LUV vs CPA vs UAL Stock Comparison

Southwest Airlines, Copa Holdings and United Airlines Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LUV Southwest Airlines Co
$43.45 +1.8% 1M +34.7% 1Y
Market cap
$21.36B
P/E
20.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.55B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
2 wins
CPA Copa Holdings, S.A.
$132.36 -1.0% 1M +5.6% 1Y
Market cap
$5.39B
P/E
8.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.99B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Copa Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Copa Holdings 7, United Airlines Holdings 2, Southwest Airlines 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLUVCPAUALLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $21.36B $5.39B $33.81B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.3x 8.6x 9.5x CPA
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.7x 9.4x 14.9x CPA
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +14.5% +14.8% +12.3% CPA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.3% 15.7% 5.5% CPA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.2% 15.3% 8.9% CPA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.9x 1.5x LUV
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +34.7% +5.6% +6.0% LUV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.7%/yr +12.3%/yr +17.9%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.5% 42.7% 48.2% CPA
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 64/100 48/100 CPA

Percentile Scorecard

LUVCPAUAL

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisLUVCPAUAL
Valuation 49 #70 of 136 60 #55 of 136 74 #36 of 136
Growth 88 #15 of 121 61 #48 of 121 48 #64 of 121
Profitability 41 #68 of 115 78 #26 of 115 48 #60 of 115
Financial Health 32 #97 of 143 49 #73 of 143 21 #113 of 143
Shareholder Returns 77 #20 of 82 73 #23 of 82 –
Overall 57 64 48
  • LUV ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • CPA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodLUVCPAUALSPY
1 month +1.8%-1.0%-8.1% -0.2%
3 months -6.2%-5.6%-15.4% +3.9%
6 months +14.3%+15.5%+15.8% +8.2%
Year to date +5.1%+9.7%-6.4% +12.9%
1 year +34.7%+5.6%+6.0% +12.3%
3 years +94.5%+67.4%+208.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +24.8%+18.7%+45.7% +23.3%
5 years -8.0%+78.3%+127.6% +67.9%
5 years, per year -1.7%+12.3%+17.9% +10.9%
10 years +10.7%+43.3%+92.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year +1.0%+3.7%+6.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLUVCPAUALSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.5%42.7%48.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 38.3%40.3%44.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.611.832.24 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.800.130.12 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -57.4%-42.5%-49.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -20.7%-15.8%-23.1% -1.2%
52-week high $54.80$157.19$136.11 $779.14
52-week low $29.67$107.81$85.21 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleLUVCPAUAL
P/E now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 16.3x 8.7xmedian 16.3x 9.5xmedian 16.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.0x 1.4xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.0xmedian 8.7x 5.5xmedian 8.7x 5.7xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median -47.4xmedian 11.4x —median 11.4x 30.5xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 2.9xmedian 1.2x 1.9xmedian 1.2x 1.9xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.50median 0.82 1.47median 0.82 1.15median 0.82

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsLUVCPAUAL
Revenue $31.55B $3.99B $65.55B
Operating income $1.39B $772.19M $4.92B
Net income $1.05B $626.62M $3.58B
Free cash flow -$449.00M – $1.12B
EPS (diluted) $2.13 $15.19 $10.93
Cash & equivalents $3.62B $266.83M $6.65B
Total debt $5.89B $7.93B $26.40B
Shares (diluted) 494.00M 41.26M 327.40M
Enterprise value $7.39B $463.77M -$23.88B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricLUVCPAUAL
P/E 20.2x 8.7x 9.5x
P/FCF -47.4x – 30.5x
P/Operating cash flow 7.7x – 4.2x
P/S 0.7x 1.4x 0.5x
P/B 2.9x 1.9x 1.9x
P/Tangible book 2.9x 2.0x 2.3x
EV/EBITDA 8.0x 5.5x 5.7x
EV/EBIT 17.0x 8.4x 9.3x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.6x 0.7x
EV/FCF -52.4x – 41.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 8.5x – 5.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.50 1.47 1.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLUVCPAUAL
Revenue growth (1Y) 14.5% 14.8% 12.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 5.7% 7.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 339.7% -0.3% 1.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 78.6% 0.9% 2.4%
Net income growth (1Y) 177.8% -1.7% 8.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 28.4% 22.2% 7.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 195.8% -0.5% 8.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 40.0% 5.9% 8.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 36.2% – -12.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -6.0% – -3.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -35.2% – -69.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 20.2% – -5.8%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLUVCPAUAL
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 9.4% 29.4% 12.2%
Operating margin 4.4% 19.4% 7.5%
Pretax margin 4.3% 18.0% 6.9%
Net margin 3.3% 15.7% 5.5%
FCF margin -1.4% – 1.7%
Operating cash flow margin 8.7% – 12.4%
Return on equity 14.6% 21.8% 20.8%
Return on assets 3.5% 8.9% 4.2%
Return on invested capital 8.2% 15.3% 8.9%
Return on capital employed 8.3% 14.4% 8.5%
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.6x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.6x – 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLUVCPAUAL
Debt / assets 19.3% 31.8% 31.0%
Debt / equity 0.8x 0.8x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.8x 0.9x 1.5x
Debt / FCF -13.1x – 23.7x
Liabilities / assets 76.0% 59.7% 79.1%
Equity / assets 24.0% 40.3% 20.9%
Interest coverage 5.9x 7.3x 3.6x
Current ratio 0.5x 1.1x 0.8x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.9x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.8x 0.6x
Altman Z-score 2.22 2.23 1.38

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLUVCPAUAL
Dividend yield 1.7% 5.1% –
Net buyback yield 5.8% – –
Shareholder yield 7.5% 5.1% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusLUVCPAUAL
Forward P/E 16.7xFY2026 9.4xFY2026 14.9xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.60FY2026 $14.13FY2026 $7.04FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +179.6%FY2026 -13.2%FY2026 -33.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +58.8% +41.4% +75.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $31.34BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026 $66.54BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +11.7%FY2026 +30.3%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +16.7% -4.7% +13.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLUVCPAUAL
Held by institutions 92.9% 62.4% 89.6%
Institutions holding 930 321 1,066
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.4% -4.3% +2.4%
Institutions buying 476 187 568
Institutions selling 280 98 341
Buyers to sellers 1.70 1.91 1.67

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

LUVCPAUAL
LUV 1.00 0.55 0.72
CPA 0.55 1.00 0.64
UAL 0.72 0.64 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LUV, CPA and UAL?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Southwest Airlines (LUV) $21.36B, Copa Holdings (CPA) $5.39B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $33.81B.

Which stock is cheaper, LUV, CPA and UAL?

Copa Holdings (CPA) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 20.3x, Copa Holdings (CPA) 8.6x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 9.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Copa Holdings (CPA) is cheapest (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 16.7x, Copa Holdings (CPA) 9.4x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 14.9x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Copa Holdings (CPA) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Southwest Airlines (LUV) +14.5%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +14.8%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Copa Holdings (CPA) has the highest net margin (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 3.3%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.7%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%). On return on invested capital, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 8.2%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.3%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southwest Airlines (LUV) returned the most: Southwest Airlines (LUV) +34.7%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +5.6%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +6.0%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Southwest Airlines (LUV) -1.7%/yr, Copa Holdings (CPA) +12.3%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +17.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Copa Holdings (CPA) has been the steadiest (Southwest Airlines (LUV) 43.5%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 42.7%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, LUV, CPA and UAL?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.