SKYW vs UAL vs LUV Stock Comparison

Skywest, United Airlines Holdings and Southwest Airlines Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SKYW Skywest Inc
$95.68 -6.5% 1M -5.4% 1Y
Market cap
$3.72B
P/E
9.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
6 wins
LUV Southwest Airlines Co
$43.45 +1.8% 1M +34.7% 1Y
Market cap
$21.27B
P/E
20.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.55B
Div. yield
1.66%
Airlines Industrials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 6, Southwest Airlines 3, United Airlines Holdings 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSKYWUALLUVLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $3.72B $34.02B $21.27B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.2x 9.5x 20.2x SKYW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x 14.9x 16.7x SKYW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +9.1% +12.3% +14.5% LUV
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 9.8% 5.5% 3.3% SKYW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% 8.2% SKYW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.5x 0.8x LUV
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 1.66% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -5.4% +6.0% +34.7% LUV
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +15.8%/yr +17.9%/yr -1.7%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 37.4% 48.2% 43.5% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 70/100 48/100 57/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

SKYWUALLUV

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

AxisSKYWUALLUV
Valuation 84 #22 of 136 74 #36 of 136 49 #70 of 136
Growth 82 #23 of 121 48 #64 of 121 88 #15 of 121
Profitability 63 #43 of 115 48 #60 of 115 41 #68 of 115
Financial Health 30 #101 of 143 21 #113 of 143 32 #97 of 143
Shareholder Returns 91 #8 of 82 – 77 #20 of 82
Overall 70 48 57
  • SKYW 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

PeriodSKYWUALLUVSPY
1 month -6.5%-8.1%+1.8% -0.2%
3 months -15.9%-15.4%-6.2% +3.9%
6 months +15.5%+15.8%+14.3% +8.2%
Year to date -4.7%-6.4%+5.1% +12.9%
1 year -5.4%+6.0%+34.7% +12.3%
3 years +126.4%+208.9%+94.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year +31.3%+45.7%+24.8% +23.3%
5 years +107.9%+127.6%-8.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +15.8%+17.9%-1.7% +10.9%
10 years +227.1%+92.4%+10.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +12.6%+6.8%+1.0% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSKYWUALLUVSPY
Volatility, 1Y 37.4%48.2%43.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.9%44.1%38.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.312.241.61 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.140.120.80 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -70.5%-49.2%-57.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high -17.5%-23.1%-20.7% -1.2%
52-week high $115.94$136.11$54.80 $779.14
52-week low $78.40$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.

MultipleSKYWUALLUV
P/E now vs peer median 9.2xmedian 16.3x 9.5xmedian 16.3x 20.2xmedian 16.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 1.0x 0.5xmedian 1.0x 0.7xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 8.7x 5.7xmedian 8.7x 8.0xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 10.0xmedian 11.4x 30.5xmedian 11.4x -47.4xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.3xmedian 1.2x 1.9xmedian 1.2x 2.9xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.03median 0.82 1.15median 0.82 0.50median 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 monthsSKYWUALLUV
Revenue $4.19B $65.55B $31.55B
Operating income $587.86M $4.92B $1.39B
Net income $409.91M $3.58B $1.05B
Free cash flow $371.69M $1.12B -$449.00M
EPS (diluted) $10.35 $10.93 $2.13
Cash & equivalents $81.41M $6.65B $3.62B
Total debt $2.31B $26.40B $5.89B
Shares (diluted) 39.62M 327.40M 494.00M
Enterprise value $1.03B -$23.68B $7.30B

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
MetricSKYWUALLUV
P/E 9.2x 9.5x 20.2x
P/FCF 10.0x 30.5x -47.4x
P/Operating cash flow 3.9x 4.2x 7.7x
P/S 0.9x 0.5x 0.7x
P/B 1.3x 1.9x 2.9x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 2.3x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA 5.7x 5.7x 8.0x
EV/EBIT 9.2x 9.3x 17.0x
EV/Revenue 1.3x 0.7x 0.7x
EV/FCF 14.6x 41.0x -52.4x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.7x 5.6x 8.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.03 1.15 0.50

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSKYWUALLUV
Revenue growth (1Y) 9.1% 12.3% 14.5%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 13.2% 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) 105.6% 2.4% 78.6%
Net income growth (1Y) 0.5% 8.6% 177.8%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 327.5% 7.7% 28.4%
EPS growth (1Y) 4.9% 8.4% 195.8%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 343.1% 8.3% 40.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 18.9% -12.9% 36.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 16.6% -3.1% -6.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 23.1% -69.9% -35.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 42.2% -5.8% 20.2%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSKYWUALLUV
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 22.8% 12.2% 9.4%
Operating margin 14.0% 7.5% 4.4%
Pretax margin 12.6% 6.9% 4.3%
Net margin 9.8% 5.5% 3.3%
FCF margin 8.9% 1.7% -1.4%
Operating cash flow margin 22.6% 12.4% 8.7%
Return on equity 14.9% 20.8% 14.6%
Return on assets 5.6% 4.2% 3.5%
Return on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% 8.2%
Return on capital employed 10.5% 8.5% 8.3%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.8x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.3x 2.6x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSKYWUALLUV
Debt / assets 31.2% 31.0% 19.3%
Debt / equity 0.8x 1.5x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.8x 1.5x 0.8x
Debt / FCF 6.2x 23.7x -13.1x
Liabilities / assets 62.7% 79.1% 76.0%
Equity / assets 37.3% 20.9% 24.0%
Interest coverage 5.9x 3.6x 5.9x
Current ratio 0.6x 0.8x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.5x 0.6x 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.3x 0.6x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 1.79 1.38 2.22

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSKYWUALLUV
Dividend yield – – 1.7%
Net buyback yield 5.4% – 5.8%
Shareholder yield 5.4% 0.0% 7.5%
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.

ConsensusSKYWUALLUV
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 14.9xFY2026 16.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $11.20FY2026 $7.04FY2026 $2.60FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.2%FY2026 -33.7%FY2026 +179.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +2.1% +75.0% +58.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $4.61BFY2026 $66.54BFY2026 $31.34BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.6%FY2026 +12.6%FY2026 +11.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.2% +13.5% +16.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSKYWUALLUV
Held by institutions 92.2% 89.6% 92.9%
Institutions holding 350 1,066 930
Change in shares held, QoQ -1.1% +2.4% +4.4%
Institutions buying 181 568 476
Institutions selling 140 341 280
Buyers to sellers 1.29 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.

SKYWUALLUV
SKYW 1.00 0.75 0.67
UAL 0.75 1.00 0.72
LUV 0.67 0.72 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SKYW, UAL and LUV?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Skywest (SKYW) $3.72B, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $34.02B, Southwest Airlines (LUV) $21.27B.

Which stock is cheaper, SKYW, UAL and LUV?

Skywest (SKYW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Skywest (SKYW) 9.2x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 9.5x, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 20.2x). On next year's consensus earnings, Skywest (SKYW) is cheapest (Skywest (SKYW) 8.5x, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 14.9x, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 16.7x). 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: Skywest (SKYW) +9.1%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +14.5%.

Which company is more profitable?

Skywest (SKYW) has the highest net margin (Skywest (SKYW) 9.8%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 3.3%). On return on invested capital, Skywest (SKYW) leads (Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%, 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: Skywest (SKYW) -5.4%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +6.0%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) +34.7%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (Skywest (SKYW) +15.8%/yr, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +17.9%/yr, Southwest Airlines (LUV) -1.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Skywest (SKYW) 0.00%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 0.00%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 1.66%. Skywest (SKYW) and United Airlines Holdings (UAL) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Skywest (SKYW) has been the steadiest (Skywest (SKYW) 37.4%, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.2%, Southwest Airlines (LUV) 43.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SKYW, 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, Skywest (SKYW) leads on 6. 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.