SKYW vs UAL vs CPA Stock Comparison

Skywest, United Airlines Holdings and Copa Holdings Prices as of Nov 3, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SKYW Skywest Inc
$77.70 -19.4% 1M -22.7% 1Y
Market cap
$3.28B
P/E
7.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.26B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
4 wins
CPA Copa Holdings, S.A.
$136.39 +2.9% 1M +8.5% 1Y
Market cap
$6.01B
P/E
9.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.99B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 4, Copa Holdings 4, United Airlines Holdings 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSKYWUALCPALeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.28B $37.69B $6.01B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 7.9x 10.5x 9.6x SKYW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 6.9x 15.2x 9.7x SKYW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +7.0% +12.3% +14.8% CPA
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.7% 5.5% 15.7% CPA
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% 15.3% CPA
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.5x 0.9x CPA
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -22.7% +11.5% +8.5% UAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +11.6%/yr +16.9%/yr +12.8%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 40.5% 48.2% 43.3% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 67/100 50/100 63/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

SKYWUALCPA

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

AxisSKYWUALCPA
Valuation 87 #19 of 137 74 #36 of 137 56 #61 of 137
Growth 66 #44 of 127 52 #62 of 127 60 #52 of 127
Profitability 60 #51 of 125 51 #62 of 125 81 #25 of 125
Financial Health 27 #107 of 147 22 #115 of 147 47 #79 of 147
Shareholder Returns 97 #4 of 87 – 71 #26 of 87
Overall 67 50 63
  • SKYW ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • CPA ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSKYWUALCPASPY
1 month -19.4%-4.7%+2.9% -2.0%
3 months -32.4%-19.2%-7.0% -2.2%
6 months -6.6%+14.5%+20.1% +4.2%
Year to date -22.6%-4.1%+13.1% +10.6%
1 year -22.7%+11.5%+8.5% +10.4%
3 years +74.6%+185.8%+56.3% +73.6%
3 years, per year +20.4%+41.9%+16.1% +20.2%
5 years +72.8%+118.2%+82.6% +61.6%
5 years, per year +11.6%+16.9%+12.8% +10.1%
10 years +168.9%+91.7%+52.7% +261.3%
10 years, per year +10.4%+6.7%+4.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSKYWUALCPASPY
Volatility, 1Y 40.5%48.2%43.3% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 42.3%43.6%40.1% 12.8%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.452.171.79 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.560.240.20 0.81
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.5%-49.2%-42.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -33.0%-21.2%-13.2% -3.2%
52-week high $115.94$136.11$157.19 $779.14
52-week low $77.70$85.21$107.81 $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.

MultipleSKYWUALCPA
P/E now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 15.1x 9.7xmedian 15.1x 9.0xmedian 15.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x 1.4xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 8.2x 5.8xmedian 8.2x 5.7xmedian 8.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.8xmedian 12.7x 31.2xmedian 12.7x —median 12.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.1xmedian 1.2x 2.0xmedian 1.2x 2.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.05median 0.68 1.18median 0.68 1.51median 0.68

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 monthsSKYWUALCPA
Revenue $4.26B $65.55B $3.99B
Operating income $589.74M $4.92B $772.19M
Net income $413.07M $3.58B $626.62M
Free cash flow $199.17M $1.12B –
EPS (diluted) $10.43 $10.93 $15.19
Cash & equivalents $71.75M $6.65B $266.83M
Total debt $2.38B $26.40B $2.27B
Shares (diluted) 39.62M 327.40M 41.26M
Enterprise value $775.17M -$20.00B $1.08B

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
MetricSKYWUALCPA
P/E 7.4x 9.7x 9.0x
P/FCF 14.8x 31.2x –
P/Operating cash flow 3.7x 4.3x –
P/S 0.7x 0.5x 1.4x
P/B 1.1x 2.0x 2.0x
P/Tangible book 1.1x 2.3x 2.0x
EV/EBITDA 5.1x 5.8x 5.7x
EV/EBIT 8.1x 9.5x 8.6x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 0.7x 1.7x
EV/FCF 23.9x 41.7x –
EV/Operating cash flow 6.0x 5.7x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.05 1.18 1.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSKYWUALCPA
Revenue growth (1Y) 7.0% 12.3% 14.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 7.7% 5.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) -6.1% 1.9% -0.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 142.4% 2.4% 0.9%
Net income growth (1Y) -4.9% 8.6% -1.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 150.1% 7.7% 22.2%
EPS growth (1Y) -0.7% 8.4% -0.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 155.4% 8.3% 5.9%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -10.7% -12.9% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 7.2% -3.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -45.8% -69.9% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -18.8% -5.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSKYWUALCPA
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 22.1% 12.2% 29.4%
Operating margin 13.9% 7.5% 19.4%
Pretax margin 12.5% 6.9% 18.0%
Net margin 9.7% 5.5% 15.7%
FCF margin 4.7% 1.7% –
Operating cash flow margin 18.8% 12.4% –
Return on equity 14.8% 20.8% 21.8%
Return on assets 5.5% 4.2% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% 15.3%
Return on capital employed 10.3% 8.5% 14.4%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.9x 2.3x –
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSKYWUALCPA
Debt / assets 31.7% 31.0% 31.8%
Debt / equity 0.8x 1.5x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x 1.5x 0.9x
Debt / FCF 11.9x 23.7x –
Liabilities / assets 62.6% 79.1% 59.7%
Equity / assets 37.4% 20.9% 40.3%
Interest coverage 5.9x 3.6x 7.3x
Current ratio 0.6x 0.8x 1.1x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.6x 0.9x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.8x
Altman Z-score 1.71 1.38 2.25

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSKYWUALCPA
Dividend yield – – 4.9%
Net buyback yield 8.5% – –
Shareholder yield 8.5% 0.0% 4.9%
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.

ConsensusSKYWUALCPA
Forward P/E 6.9xFY2026 15.2xFY2026 9.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.20FY2026 $7.04FY2026 $14.13FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 -33.7%FY2026 -13.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.1% +75.0% +41.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.61BFY2026 $66.54BFY2026 $4.72BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.6%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026 +30.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.2% +13.5% -4.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSKYWUALCPA
Held by institutions 92.2% 89.6% 62.4%
Institutions holding 351 1,070 321
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +2.4% -4.3%
Institutions buying 182 570 187
Institutions selling 140 343 98
Buyers to sellers 1.30 1.66 1.91

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.

SKYWUALCPA
SKYW 1.00 0.69 0.48
UAL 0.69 1.00 0.65
CPA 0.48 0.65 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SKYW, UAL and CPA?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Skywest (SKYW) $3.28B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $37.69B, Copa Holdings (CPA) $6.01B.

Which stock is cheaper, SKYW, UAL and CPA?

Skywest (SKYW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Skywest (SKYW) 7.9x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 10.5x, Copa Holdings (CPA) 9.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Skywest (SKYW) is cheapest (Skywest (SKYW) 6.9x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 15.2x, Copa Holdings (CPA) 9.7x). 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: Skywest (SKYW) +7.0%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +14.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Copa Holdings (CPA) has the highest net margin (Skywest (SKYW) 9.7%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.7%). On return on invested capital, Copa Holdings (CPA) leads (Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 15.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Airlines Holdings (UAL) returned the most: Skywest (SKYW) -22.7%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +11.5%, Copa Holdings (CPA) +8.5%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Skywest (SKYW) +11.6%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +16.9%/yr, Copa Holdings (CPA) +12.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Skywest (SKYW) has been the steadiest (Skywest (SKYW) 40.5%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.2%, Copa Holdings (CPA) 43.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Skywest (SKYW) leads on 4. 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.