RYAAY vs UAL vs LUV Stock Comparison

Ryanair Holdings, United Airlines Holdings and Southwest Airlines Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
RYAAY Ryanair Holdings Plc
$52.53 -3.9% 1M -13.2% 1Y
Market cap
$27.97B
P/E
13.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$18.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
5 wins
LUV Southwest Airlines Co
$41.74 +1.7% 1M +31.9% 1Y
Market cap
$20.96B
P/E
19.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.55B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Ryanair Holdings leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Ryanair Holdings 5, United Airlines Holdings 4, Southwest Airlines 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionRYAAYUALLUVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $27.97B $32.72B $20.96B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 13.5x 9.1x 19.9x UAL
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.6x 12.5x 15.7x UAL
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +13.3% +12.3% +14.5% LUV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 11.4% 5.5% 3.3% RYAAY
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 16.9% 8.9% 8.2% RYAAY
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.7x 1.5x 0.8x RYAAY
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -13.2% +2.4% +31.9% LUV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.9%/yr +16.0%/yr -2.6%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.5% 48.1% 43.4% RYAAY
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 62/100 49/100 59/100 RYAAY

Percentile Scorecard

RYAAYUALLUV

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

AxisRYAAYUALLUV
Valuation 60 #55 of 136 74 #36 of 136 54 #63 of 136
Growth 52 #59 of 122 50 #61 of 122 88 #15 of 122
Profitability 83 #21 of 119 49 #61 of 119 43 #68 of 119
Financial Health 73 #40 of 147 21 #116 of 147 32 #100 of 147
Shareholder Returns 41 #50 of 84 – 77 #20 of 84
Overall 62 49 59
  • RYAAY ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • LUV ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodRYAAYUALLUVSPY
1 month -3.9%-11.6%+1.7% -1.0%
3 months -7.6%-17.2%-7.4% +2.9%
6 months -7.3%+5.3%+5.8% +6.4%
Year to date -27.2%-12.4%+1.0% +11.4%
1 year -13.2%+2.4%+31.9% +13.1%
3 years +46.1%+178.7%+74.6% +79.4%
3 years, per year +13.5%+40.8%+20.4% +21.5%
5 years +21.1%+109.6%-12.4% +67.7%
5 years, per year +3.9%+16.0%-2.6% +10.9%
10 years +78.9%+76.1%-1.6% +255.2%
10 years, per year +6.0%+5.8%-0.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureRYAAYUALLUVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.5%48.1%43.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.3%43.9%38.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.402.211.59 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.360.050.73 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -54.9%-49.2%-57.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -28.8%-28.1%-23.8% -2.5%
52-week high $73.82$136.11$54.80 $779.14
52-week low $51.33$85.21$29.67 $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.

MultipleRYAAYUALLUV
P/E now vs peer median 13.4xmedian 16.0x 8.9xmedian 16.0x 19.4xmedian 16.0x
P/S now vs peer median 1.5xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x 0.6xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.1xmedian 8.7x 5.5xmedian 8.7x 7.7xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 12.7xmedian 11.5x 28.5xmedian 11.5x -45.5xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.5xmedian 1.2x 1.8xmedian 1.2x 2.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 3.38median 0.82 1.07median 0.82 0.48median 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 monthsRYAAYUALLUV
Revenue $18.19B $65.55B $31.55B
Operating income $2.38B $4.92B $1.39B
Net income $2.21B $3.58B $1.05B
Free cash flow $2.16B $1.12B -$449.00M
EPS (diluted) $3.90 $10.93 $2.13
Cash & equivalents $2.84B $6.65B $3.62B
Total debt $4.75B $26.40B $5.89B
Shares (diluted) 532.20M 327.40M 494.00M
Enterprise value $11.62B -$24.97B $6.98B

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
MetricRYAAYUALLUV
P/E 13.4x 8.9x 19.4x
P/FCF 12.7x 28.5x -45.5x
P/Operating cash flow 6.8x 3.9x 7.4x
P/S 1.5x 0.5x 0.6x
P/B 2.5x 1.8x 2.8x
P/Tangible book 2.6x 2.1x 2.8x
EV/EBITDA 6.1x 5.5x 7.7x
EV/EBIT 10.4x 8.8x 16.4x
EV/Revenue 1.4x 0.7x 0.7x
EV/FCF 11.4x 39.0x -50.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 6.1x 5.3x 8.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 3.38 1.07 0.48

Growth

14 metrics
MetricRYAAYUALLUV
Revenue growth (1Y) 13.3% 12.3% 14.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 12.8% 7.7% 7.4%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 0.5% 1.9% 339.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 6.2% 2.4% 78.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -4.6% 8.6% 177.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 6.1% 7.7% 28.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -13.5% 8.4% 195.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 4.0% 8.3% 40.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -1.0% -12.9% 36.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 0.1% -3.1% -6.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -21.9% -69.9% -35.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.4% -5.8% 20.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricRYAAYUALLUV
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 22.3% 12.2% 9.4%
Operating margin 13.1% 7.5% 4.4%
Pretax margin 13.4% 6.9% 4.3%
Net margin 11.4% 5.5% 3.3%
FCF margin 11.9% 1.7% -1.4%
Operating cash flow margin 22.1% 12.4% 8.7%
Return on equity 18.5% 20.8% 14.6%
Return on assets 9.6% 4.2% 3.5%
Return on invested capital 16.9% 8.9% 8.2%
Return on capital employed 18.7% 8.5% 8.3%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.8x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.8x 2.3x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue 0.1% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricRYAAYUALLUV
Debt / assets 0.2% 31.0% 19.3%
Debt / equity 0.0x 1.5x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.7x 1.5x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 0.0x 23.7x -13.1x
Liabilities / assets 47.8% 79.1% 76.0%
Equity / assets 52.2% 20.9% 24.0%
Interest coverage – 3.6x 5.9x
Current ratio 0.8x 0.8x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 3.36 1.36 2.20

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricRYAAYUALLUV
Dividend yield 2.6% – 1.7%
Net buyback yield – – 6.1%
Shareholder yield 2.6% 0.0% 7.8%
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.

ConsensusRYAAYUALLUV
Forward P/E 14.6xFY2026 12.5xFY2026 15.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.60FY2026 $7.85FY2026 $2.66FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -24.4%FY2026 -26.1%FY2026 +186.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -5.0% +68.2% +62.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $18.49BFY2026 $66.26BFY2026 $31.07BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +2.1%FY2026 +12.2%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -0.3% +12.3% +15.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersRYAAYUALLUV
Held by institutions 39.9% 89.6% 92.9%
Institutions holding 410 1,066 930
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.8% +2.4% +4.4%
Institutions buying 192 568 476
Institutions selling 147 341 280
Buyers to sellers 1.31 1.67 1.70

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.

RYAAYUALLUV
RYAAY 1.00 0.60 0.59
UAL 0.60 1.00 0.72
LUV 0.59 0.72 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, RYAAY, UAL and LUV?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) $27.97B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $32.72B, Southwest Airlines (LUV) $20.96B.

Which stock is cheaper, RYAAY, UAL and LUV?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 13.5x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 9.1x, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 19.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is cheapest (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 14.6x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 12.5x, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 15.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Southwest Airlines (LUV) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) +13.3%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +14.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) has the highest net margin (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 11.4%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 3.3%). On return on invested capital, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) leads (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 16.9%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 8.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Southwest Airlines (LUV) returned the most: Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) -13.2%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +2.4%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +31.9%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) +3.9%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +16.0%/yr, Southwest Airlines (LUV) -2.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) has been the steadiest (Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) 36.5%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.1%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 43.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY) leads on 5. 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.