SAIA vs JBHT vs TFII Stock Comparison

Saia, Hunt J B Transport Services and TFI International Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SAIA Saia Inc
$324.62 -1.7% 1M +14.2% 1Y
Market cap
$9.15B
P/E
32.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.39B
Div. yield
–
Trucking Industrials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Hunt J B Transport Services leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Hunt J B Transport Services 5, TFI International 4, Saia 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSAIAJBHTTFIILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.15B $20.76B $9.31B JBHT
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.9x 30.7x 24.2x TFII
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.5x 32.6x 19.6x TFII
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +10.6% -1.7% JBHT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.2% 5.1% 4.7% SAIA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.2% 15.1% 18.0% TFII
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 0.0x 0.7x 0.0x SAIA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +14.2% +34.0% +27.3% JBHT
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +0.8%/yr +2.5%/yr +0.2%/yr JBHT
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 46.7% 35.1% 36.2% JBHT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 50/100 54/100 TFII

Percentile Scorecard

SAIAJBHTTFII

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

AxisSAIAJBHTTFII
Valuation 22 #106 of 136 28 #98 of 136 56 #61 of 136
Growth 50 #62 of 122 54 #57 of 122 20 #98 of 122
Profitability 58 #49 of 116 67 #39 of 116 68 #38 of 116
Financial Health 87 #20 of 143 56 #63 of 143 61 #56 of 143
Shareholder Returns 3 #79 of 81 43 #47 of 81 64 #30 of 81
Overall 44 50 54
  • SAIA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • JBHT ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • TFII ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSAIAJBHTTFIISPY
1 month -1.7%-1.2%-8.3% +0.9%
3 months -17.7%-19.1%-20.6% +5.9%
6 months -23.1%-9.4%-20.3% +8.5%
Year to date -0.6%+14.9%+8.5% +13.3%
1 year +14.2%+34.0%+27.3% +12.4%
3 years -5.7%+34.5%+4.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year -1.9%+10.4%+1.4% +23.5%
5 years +3.8%+13.2%+1.1% +68.2%
5 years, per year +0.8%+2.5%+0.2% +11.0%
10 years +814.4%+175.8%+407.2% +263.4%
10 years, per year +24.8%+10.7%+17.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureSAIAJBHTTFIISPY
Volatility, 1Y 46.7%35.1%36.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.1%37.5%36.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.350.771.01 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.300.970.75 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -60.9%-43.0%-54.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.4%-25.2%-31.4% -0.9%
52-week high $487.14$298.41$163.36 $779.14
52-week low $250.48$158.92$80.71 $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.

MultipleSAIAJBHTTFII
P/E now vs peer median 31.3xmedian 16.1x 31.0xmedian 16.1x 24.2xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 0.9x 1.6xmedian 0.9x 1.2xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 13.8xmedian 8.6x 13.0xmedian 8.6x 9.3xmedian 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 33.9xmedian 11.6x 21.5xmedian 11.6x 8.1xmedian 11.6x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 1.2x 5.7xmedian 1.2x 3.5xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -5.00median 0.80 -23.43median 0.80 -2.29median 0.80

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 monthsSAIAJBHTTFII
Revenue $3.39B $13.33B $8.12B
Operating income $374.65M $960.11M $597.45M
Net income $277.96M $676.07M $335.80M
Free cash flow $255.23M $966.50M $1.17B
EPS (diluted) $10.36 $7.14 $4.61
Cash & equivalents $84.01M $3.75M $205.45M
Total debt $100.12M $1.12B $235.56M
Shares (diluted) 26.83M 94.65M 83.41M
Enterprise value $8.97B $20.73B $8.68B

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
MetricSAIAJBHTTFII
P/E 31.3x 31.0x 24.2x
P/FCF 33.9x 21.5x 8.1x
P/Operating cash flow 14.3x 13.9x 10.3x
P/S 2.6x 1.6x 1.2x
P/B 3.2x 5.7x 3.5x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 5.7x -4.9x
EV/EBITDA 13.8x 13.0x 9.3x
EV/EBIT 23.2x 22.8x 15.9x
EV/Revenue 2.6x 1.6x 1.2x
EV/FCF 34.0x 22.7x 8.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.3x 14.7x 10.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -5.00 -23.43 -2.29

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTTFII
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 10.6% -1.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.4% 0.4% 1.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -5.4% 16.3% -7.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -5.3% -3.6% -12.6%
Net income growth (1Y) -4.2% 18.1% -8.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -6.1% -4.5% -19.3%
EPS growth (1Y) -4.3% 20.8% -5.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -6.3% -1.3% -10.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -3.2% -7.2% -13.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 2.9% -8.5% -3.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 326.1% 22.4% -14.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 29.2% 162.1% -5.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTTFII
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 18.5% 12.6% 12.6%
Operating margin 11.0% 7.2% 7.4%
Pretax margin 10.8% 6.7% 10.1%
Net margin 8.2% 5.1% 4.7%
FCF margin 7.5% 7.3% 14.4%
Operating cash flow margin 17.9% 11.2% 11.3%
Return on equity 5.4% 18.5% 12.4%
Return on assets 4.0% 8.4% 4.5%
Return on invested capital 10.2% 15.1% 18.0%
Return on capital employed 11.4% 14.9% 9.6%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.7x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.2x 2.7x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTTFII
Debt / assets 2.7% 13.9% 3.1%
Debt / equity 0.0x 0.3x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 0.0x 0.7x 0.0x
Debt / FCF 0.4x 1.2x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 26.8% 55.1% 63.5%
Equity / assets 73.2% 44.9% 36.5%
Interest coverage 31.1x 14.2x 3.5x
Current ratio 1.6x 1.2x 1.1x
Quick ratio 1.4x 1.0x 1.0x
Cash ratio 0.2x 0.0x 0.2x
Altman Z-score 7.43 – 2.91

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTTFII
Dividend yield – 0.8% 1.7%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 2.4% 3.8%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 3.2% 5.5%
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.

ConsensusSAIAJBHTTFII
Forward P/E 30.5xFY2026 32.6xFY2026 19.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.63FY2026 $6.85FY2026 $5.73FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.7%FY2026 +11.9%FY2026 +31.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +28.5% +36.6% +40.5%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.87BFY2026 $13.43BFY2026 $8.41BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.9%FY2026 +11.9%FY2026 +6.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.5% +18.0% +1.0%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSAIAJBHTTFII
Held by institutions 100.0% 76.9% 69.4%
Institutions holding 513 857 295
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.0% +1.8% +1.2%
Institutions buying 292 516 174
Institutions selling 152 233 90
Buyers to sellers 1.92 2.21 1.93

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.

SAIAJBHTTFII
SAIA 1.00 0.73 0.75
JBHT 0.73 1.00 0.73
TFII 0.75 0.73 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SAIA, JBHT and TFII?

Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) is the largest by market capitalisation: Saia (SAIA) $9.15B, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) $20.76B, TFI International (TFII) $9.31B.

Which stock is cheaper, SAIA, JBHT and TFII?

TFI International (TFII) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Saia (SAIA) 32.9x, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 30.7x, TFI International (TFII) 24.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, TFI International (TFII) is cheapest (Saia (SAIA) 30.5x, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 32.6x, TFI International (TFII) 19.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Saia (SAIA) +4.8%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +10.6%, TFI International (TFII) -1.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Saia (SAIA) has the highest net margin (Saia (SAIA) 8.2%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 5.1%, TFI International (TFII) 4.7%). On return on invested capital, TFI International (TFII) leads (Saia (SAIA) 10.2%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 15.1%, TFI International (TFII) 18.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) returned the most: Saia (SAIA) +14.2%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +34.0%, TFI International (TFII) +27.3%. Over five years, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) compounded fastest (Saia (SAIA) +0.8%/yr, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +2.5%/yr, TFI International (TFII) +0.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) has been the steadiest (Saia (SAIA) 46.7%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 35.1%, TFI International (TFII) 36.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SAIA, JBHT and TFII?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 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.