SAIA vs JBHT vs XPO Stock Comparison

Saia, Hunt J B Transport Services and Xpo Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SAIA Saia Inc
$343.07 +2.0% 1M +23.7% 1Y
Market cap
$9.20B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.54B
Div. yield
–
Trucking Industrials
2 wins
XPO XPO, Inc.
$182.95 +3.1% 1M +46.7% 1Y
Market cap
$22.09B
P/E
43.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$8.84B
Div. yield
–
Trucking Industrials
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

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

QuestionSAIAJBHTXPOLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $9.20B $20.59B $22.09B XPO
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 32.5x 30.5x 43.9x JBHT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 32.3x 32.4x 31.0x XPO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.3% +10.6% +9.5% JBHT
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.0% 5.1% 5.7% SAIA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 10.0% 15.1% 12.7% JBHT
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -0.2x 0.7x 2.0x SAIA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +23.7% +31.5% +46.7% XPO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +1.9%/yr +2.4%/yr +29.1%/yr XPO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 47.0% 35.1% 42.2% JBHT
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 50/100 50/100 XPO

Percentile Scorecard

SAIAJBHTXPO

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

AxisSAIAJBHTXPO
Valuation 24 #104 of 136 29 #97 of 136 19 #110 of 136
Growth 58 #52 of 121 53 #57 of 121 90 #13 of 121
Profitability 60 #45 of 112 67 #38 of 112 65 #40 of 112
Financial Health 91 #13 of 140 56 #62 of 140 26 #104 of 140
Shareholder Returns 4 #77 of 80 43 #46 of 80 49 #41 of 80
Overall 47 50 50
  • SAIA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • JBHT ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • XPO ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSAIAJBHTXPOSPY
1 month +2.0%-3.1%+3.1% +0.7%
3 months -2.2%-17.5%-8.1% +3.7%
6 months -23.6%-11.7%-16.9% +7.1%
Year to date +5.1%+14.3%+34.6% +12.8%
1 year +23.7%+31.5%+46.7% +11.9%
3 years -4.0%+30.8%+136.1% +85.2%
3 years, per year -1.3%+9.4%+33.2% +22.8%
5 years +9.7%+12.6%+258.9% +67.6%
5 years, per year +1.9%+2.4%+29.1% +10.9%
10 years +866.4%+174.4%+1,506.2% +262.0%
10 years, per year +25.5%+10.6%+32.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSAIAJBHTXPOSPY
Volatility, 1Y 47.0%35.1%42.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 47.1%37.3%39.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.330.771.19 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.500.901.11 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -60.9%-43.0%-51.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -29.6%-25.6%-19.9% -1.2%
52-week high $487.14$298.41$228.37 $779.14
52-week low $250.48$158.92$124.75 $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.

MultipleSAIAJBHTXPO
P/E now vs peer median 32.5xmedian 16.5x 30.8xmedian 16.5x 42.6xmedian 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.6xmedian 0.9x 1.6xmedian 0.9x 2.4xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 14.3xmedian 8.8x 13.0xmedian 8.8x 17.2xmedian 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 32.8xmedian 11.9x 21.4xmedian 11.9x 32.6xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median 3.2xmedian 1.2x 5.7xmedian 1.2x 10.8xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median -5.76median 0.84 -23.30median 0.84 0.31median 0.84

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 monthsSAIAJBHTXPO
Revenue $3.54B $13.33B $8.84B
Operating income $378.33M $960.11M $876.00M
Net income $283.09M $676.07M $503.00M
Free cash flow $278.80M $966.50M $657.00M
EPS (diluted) $10.56 $7.14 $4.26
Cash & equivalents $202.52M $3.75M $260.00M
Total debt $100.00M $1.12B $3.12B
Shares (diluted) 26.82M 94.65M 118.00M
Enterprise value $8.86B $20.56B $20.99B

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
MetricSAIAJBHTXPO
P/E 32.5x 30.8x 42.6x
P/FCF 32.8x 21.4x 32.6x
P/Operating cash flow 14.8x 13.9x 18.9x
P/S 2.6x 1.6x 2.4x
P/B 3.2x 5.7x 10.8x
P/Tangible book 3.2x 5.7x 12.5x
EV/EBITDA 14.3x 13.0x 17.2x
EV/EBIT 23.9x 22.7x 27.7x
EV/Revenue 2.6x 1.6x 2.7x
EV/FCF 32.5x 22.6x 36.9x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x 14.6x 21.4x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -5.76 -23.30 0.31

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTXPO
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.3% 10.6% 9.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 0.4% 5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -2.9% 16.3% 32.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -4.9% -3.6% 39.5%
Net income growth (1Y) -0.2% 18.1% 51.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -5.6% -4.5% 138.7%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.3% 20.8% 54.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -5.6% -1.3% 139.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -0.7% -7.2% 19.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 4.3% -8.5% 21.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 2,140% 22.4% 183.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.8% 162.1% 217.0%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTXPO
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 17.9% 12.6% 15.9%
Operating margin 10.7% 7.2% 9.9%
Pretax margin 10.6% 6.7% 7.6%
Net margin 8.0% 5.1% 5.7%
FCF margin 7.9% 7.3% 7.4%
Operating cash flow margin 17.5% 11.2% 12.8%
Return on equity 8.5% 18.5% 25.5%
Return on assets 6.2% 8.4% 6.0%
Return on invested capital 10.0% 15.1% 12.7%
Return on capital employed 11.1% 14.9% 13.4%
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.7x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.2x 2.2x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.5% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTXPO
Debt / assets 2.6% 13.9% 37.6%
Debt / equity 0.0x 0.3x 1.6x
Net debt / EBITDA -0.2x 0.7x 2.0x
Debt / FCF 0.4x 1.2x 4.8x
Liabilities / assets 26.7% 55.1% 76.3%
Equity / assets 73.3% 44.9% 23.7%
Interest coverage 39.5x 14.2x 4.2x
Current ratio 1.8x 1.2x 1.0x
Quick ratio 1.7x 1.0x 0.8x
Cash ratio 0.5x 0.0x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 7.60 – 3.66

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSAIAJBHTXPO
Dividend yield – 0.8% –
Net buyback yield 0.0% 2.4% 1.5%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 3.2% 1.5%
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.

ConsensusSAIAJBHTXPO
Forward P/E 32.3xFY2026 32.4xFY2026 31.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.63FY2026 $6.85FY2026 $5.91FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +16.7%FY2026 +11.9%FY2026 +58.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +28.5% +36.6% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.87BFY2026 $13.43BFY2026 $9.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.9%FY2026 +11.9%FY2026 +13.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.5% +18.0% +5.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSAIAJBHTXPO
Held by institutions 100.0% 76.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 514 858 751
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.0% +1.8% +2.2%
Institutions buying 292 516 433
Institutions selling 152 234 211
Buyers to sellers 1.92 2.21 2.05

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.

SAIAJBHTXPO
SAIA 1.00 0.72 0.74
JBHT 0.72 1.00 0.70
XPO 0.74 0.70 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SAIA, JBHT and XPO?

Xpo (XPO) is the largest by market capitalisation: Saia (SAIA) $9.20B, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) $20.59B, Xpo (XPO) $22.09B.

Which stock is cheaper, SAIA, JBHT and XPO?

Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Saia (SAIA) 32.5x, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 30.5x, Xpo (XPO) 43.9x). On next year's consensus earnings, Xpo (XPO) is cheapest (Saia (SAIA) 32.3x, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 32.4x, Xpo (XPO) 31.0x). 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) +9.3%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +10.6%, Xpo (XPO) +9.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Saia (SAIA) has the highest net margin (Saia (SAIA) 8.0%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 5.1%, Xpo (XPO) 5.7%). On return on invested capital, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) leads (Saia (SAIA) 10.0%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 15.1%, Xpo (XPO) 12.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Xpo (XPO) returned the most: Saia (SAIA) +23.7%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +31.5%, Xpo (XPO) +46.7%. Over five years, Xpo (XPO) compounded fastest (Saia (SAIA) +1.9%/yr, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) +2.4%/yr, Xpo (XPO) +29.1%/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) 47.0%, Hunt J B Transport Services (JBHT) 35.1%, Xpo (XPO) 42.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Xpo (XPO) 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.