UAL vs AAL vs VLRS Stock Comparison

United Airlines Holdings, American Airlines and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

United Airlines Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (United Airlines Holdings 6, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V 2, American Airlines 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionUALAALVLRSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $34.64B $8.56B $713.08M UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.7x -26.3x -3.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.7x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.3% +7.5% +22.0% VLRS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.5% -0.6% -13.8% UAL
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.9% 3.6% 5.5% UAL
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.5x 7.6x -2.9x VLRS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +8.9% -1.0% -11.7% UAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.5%/yr -8.1%/yr -19.6%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.0% 46.8% 51.8% AAL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 49/100 29/100 33/100 UAL

Percentile Scorecard

UALAALVLRS

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

AxisUALAALVLRS
Valuation 75 #35 of 136 70 #41 of 136 45 #75 of 136
Growth 48 #64 of 122 12 #108 of 122 28 #88 of 122
Profitability 51 #57 of 116 24 #89 of 116 26 #86 of 116
Financial Health 22 #112 of 143 9 #131 of 143 33 #96 of 143
Shareholder Returns – – –
Overall 49 29 33
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • AAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • VLRS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodUALAALVLRSSPY
1 month -7.2%-7.0%-9.9% +0.9%
3 months -13.4%-15.2%-19.7% +5.9%
6 months +16.7%+11.2%-14.2% +8.5%
Year to date -7.5%-17.9%-31.4% +13.3%
1 year +8.9%-1.0%-11.7% +12.4%
3 years +205.1%+15.2%+1.7% +88.1%
3 years, per year +45.1%+4.8%+0.6% +23.5%
5 years +124.2%-34.5%-66.4% +68.2%
5 years, per year +17.5%-8.1%-19.6% +11.0%
10 years +87.7%-68.6%-67.4% +263.4%
10 years, per year +6.5%-10.9%-10.6% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureUALAALVLRSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.0%46.8%51.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 43.8%45.2%48.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.241.932.00 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.19-0.02-0.23 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.2%-59.3%-82.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -24.0%-30.7%-42.7% -0.9%
52-week high $136.11$18.15$10.63 $779.14
52-week low $85.21$10.18$5.58 $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.

MultipleUALAALVLRS
P/E now vs peer median 9.4xmedian 16.1x -25.6xmedian 16.1x -3.2xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 0.9x 0.1xmedian 0.9x 0.5xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 8.6x 10.5xmedian 8.6x 0.9xmedian 8.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.1xmedian 11.6x 29.2xmedian 11.6x 0.9xmedian 11.6x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.2x -2.1xmedian 1.2x 20.5xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.14median 0.80 0.89median 0.80 0.15median 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 monthsUALAALVLRS
Revenue $65.55B $58.34B $1.59B
Operating income $4.92B $1.01B $14.00M
Net income $3.58B -$326.00M -$336.00M
Free cash flow $1.12B $285.00M $1.01B
EPS (diluted) $10.93 $-0.49 $-1.91
Cash & equivalents $6.65B – $803.00M
Total debt $26.40B $28.93B $165.00M
Shares (diluted) 327.40M 662.61M 114.92M
Enterprise value -$23.06B -$15.48B -$2.47B

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
MetricUALAALVLRS
P/E 9.4x -25.6x -3.2x
P/FCF 30.1x 29.2x 0.9x
P/Operating cash flow 4.1x 1.9x 0.9x
P/S 0.5x 0.1x 0.5x
P/B 1.9x -2.1x 20.5x
P/Tangible book 2.2x -1.4x -862.1x
EV/EBITDA 5.7x 10.5x 0.9x
EV/EBIT 9.2x 30.3x 14.6x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 0.5x 0.1x
EV/FCF 40.6x 107.1x 0.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 5.6x 7.0x 0.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.14 0.89 0.15

Growth

14 metrics
MetricUALAALVLRS
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.3% 7.5% 22.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 3.3% -1.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.9% -51.7% -90.8%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.4% -41.0% -51.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.6% -157.5% -104.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% -28.5% -65.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.4% -157.3% -260.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.3% -28.8% -21.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -12.9% 6.8% 25.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 0.2% 14.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -69.9% -81.8% 25.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.8% -47.4% 14.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricUALAALVLRS
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 12.2% 5.0% 14.1%
Operating margin 7.5% 1.7% 0.9%
Pretax margin 6.9% -0.6% -17.5%
Net margin 5.5% -0.6% -13.8%
FCF margin 1.7% 0.5% 63.5%
Operating cash flow margin 12.4% 7.5% 63.5%
Return on equity 20.8% – -610.9%
Return on assets 4.2% -0.5% -5.8%
Return on invested capital 8.9% 3.6% 5.5%
Return on capital employed 8.5% 2.7% 0.4%
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.9x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x -13.4x -3.0x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricUALAALVLRS
Debt / assets 31.0% 45.0% 2.8%
Debt / equity 1.5x -7.3x 3.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.5x 7.6x -2.9x
Debt / FCF 23.7x 101.5x 0.2x
Liabilities / assets 79.1% 106.2% 99.3%
Equity / assets 20.9% -6.2% 0.7%
Interest coverage 3.6x 0.6x 0.0x
Current ratio 0.8x 0.5x 0.7x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.7x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.3x 0.4x
Altman Z-score 1.37 0.65 0.13

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricUALAALVLRS
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 0.0% –
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.

ConsensusUALAALVLRS
Forward P/E 14.7xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.04FY2026 $-1.14FY2026 $-1.93FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -33.7%FY2026 -416.7%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +75.0% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $66.54BFY2026 $59.78BFY2026 $3.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +9.4%FY2026 +15.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.5% +8.0% +6.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersUALAALVLRS
Held by institutions 89.6% 78.0% 28.4%
Institutions holding 1,066 578 75
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% +16.5% -2.1%
Institutions buying 568 276 32
Institutions selling 341 182 24
Buyers to sellers 1.67 1.52 1.33

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.

UALAALVLRS
UAL 1.00 0.84 0.59
AAL 0.84 1.00 0.55
VLRS 0.59 0.55 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, UAL, AAL and VLRS?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $34.64B, American Airlines (AAL) $8.56B, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) $713.08M.

Which company is growing faster?

Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, American Airlines (AAL) +7.5%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) +22.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) has the highest net margin (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, American Airlines (AAL) -0.6%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -13.8%). On return on invested capital, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) leads (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%, American Airlines (AAL) 3.6%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 5.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Airlines Holdings (UAL) returned the most: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +8.9%, American Airlines (AAL) -1.0%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -11.7%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +17.5%/yr, American Airlines (AAL) -8.1%/yr, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) -19.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, American Airlines (AAL) has been the steadiest (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.0%, American Airlines (AAL) 46.8%, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V (VLRS) 51.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, UAL, AAL and VLRS?

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