UAL vs SKYW vs ALK Stock Comparison

United Airlines Holdings, Skywest and Alaska Air Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SKYW Skywest Inc
$95.68 -6.5% 1M -5.4% 1Y
Market cap
$3.76B
P/E
9.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.19B
Div. yield
–
Airlines Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Skywest leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Skywest 6, United Airlines Holdings 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionUALSKYWALKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $33.77B $3.76B $3.97B UAL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.4x 9.2x -10.0x SKYW
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 14.9x 8.5x — SKYW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.3% +9.1% +8.2% UAL
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 5.5% 9.8% — SKYW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% — SKYW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.5x 1.8x — UAL
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.0% -5.4% -19.8% UAL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +17.9%/yr +15.8%/yr -7.4%/yr UAL
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 48.2% 37.4% 52.0% SKYW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 70/100 34/100 SKYW

Percentile Scorecard

UALSKYWALK

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

AxisUALSKYWALK
Valuation 74 #36 of 136 84 #22 of 136 73 #38 of 136
Growth 48 #64 of 121 82 #23 of 121 9 #110 of 121
Profitability 48 #60 of 115 63 #43 of 115 21 #91 of 115
Financial Health 21 #113 of 143 30 #101 of 143 –
Shareholder Returns – 91 #8 of 82 –
Overall 48 70 34
  • UAL ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SKYW ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • ALK ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodUALSKYWALKSPY
1 month -8.1%-6.5%-12.3% -0.2%
3 months -15.4%-15.9%-26.1% +3.9%
6 months +15.8%+15.5%-9.7% +8.2%
Year to date -6.4%-4.7%-28.6% +12.9%
1 year +6.0%-5.4%-19.8% +12.3%
3 years +208.9%+126.4%+14.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +45.7%+31.3%+4.8% +23.3%
5 years +127.6%+107.9%-32.0% +67.9%
5 years, per year +17.9%+15.8%-7.4% +10.9%
10 years +92.4%+227.1%-49.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +6.8%+12.6%-6.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureUALSKYWALKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 48.2%37.4%52.0% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 44.1%35.9%50.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.241.312.29 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.12-0.14-0.38 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -49.2%-70.5%-56.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -23.1%-17.5%-40.3% -1.2%
52-week high $136.11$115.94$60.21 $779.14
52-week low $85.21$78.40$33.56 $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.

MultipleUALSKYWALK
P/E now vs peer median 9.5xmedian 16.3x 9.2xmedian 16.3x -10.1xmedian 16.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.5xmedian 1.0x 0.9xmedian 1.0x 0.3xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 5.7xmedian 8.7x 5.7xmedian 8.7x —median 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 30.5xmedian 11.4x 10.0xmedian 11.4x -12.7xmedian 11.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.9xmedian 1.2x 1.3xmedian 1.2x 1.1xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 1.15median 0.82 0.03median 0.82 0.18median 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 monthsUALSKYWALK
Revenue $65.55B $4.19B $15.31B
Operating income $4.92B $587.86M -$290.00M
Net income $3.58B $409.91M -$395.00M
Free cash flow $1.12B $371.69M –
EPS (diluted) $10.93 $10.35 $-3.55
Cash & equivalents $6.65B $81.41M $835.00M
Total debt $26.40B $2.31B –
Shares (diluted) 327.40M 39.62M 111.13M
Enterprise value -$23.93B $1.07B $3.97B

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
MetricUALSKYWALK
P/E 9.5x 9.2x -10.1x
P/FCF 30.5x 10.0x -12.7x
P/Operating cash flow 4.2x 3.9x 4.3x
P/S 0.5x 0.9x 0.3x
P/B 1.9x 1.3x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 2.3x 1.3x 1.5x
EV/EBITDA 5.7x 5.7x –
EV/EBIT 9.3x 9.2x –
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.3x 0.3x
EV/FCF 41.0x 14.6x –
EV/Operating cash flow 5.6x 5.7x 4.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.15 0.03 0.18

Growth

14 metrics
MetricUALSKYWALK
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.3% 9.1% 8.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 13.2% 13.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 1.9% 0.5% -196.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 2.4% 105.6% -40.2%
Net income growth (1Y) 8.6% 0.5% -363.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.7% 327.5% -52.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 8.4% 4.9% -378.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 8.3% 343.1% -55.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -12.9% 18.9% -29.7%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -3.1% 16.6% -5.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -69.9% 23.1% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.8% 42.2% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricUALSKYWALK
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin 12.2% 22.8% –
Operating margin 7.5% 14.0% –
Pretax margin 6.9% 12.6% –
Net margin 5.5% 9.8% –
FCF margin 1.7% 8.9% –
Operating cash flow margin 12.4% 22.6% 6.1%
Return on equity 20.8% 14.9% -11.0%
Return on assets 4.2% 5.6% -1.9%
Return on invested capital 8.9% 8.9% –
Return on capital employed 8.5% 10.5% –
Asset turnover 0.8x 0.6x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.3x 2.3x -2.4x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricUALSKYWALK
Debt / assets 31.0% 31.2% –
Debt / equity 1.5x 0.8x –
Net debt / EBITDA 1.5x 1.8x –
Debt / FCF 23.7x 6.2x –
Liabilities / assets 79.1% 62.7% –
Equity / assets 20.9% 37.3% 16.8%
Interest coverage 3.6x 5.9x –
Current ratio 0.8x 0.6x 0.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.3x –
Altman Z-score 1.38 1.79 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricUALSKYWALK
Dividend yield – – –
Net buyback yield – 5.4% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 5.4% 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.

ConsensusUALSKYWALK
Forward P/E 14.9xFY2026 8.5xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $7.04FY2026 $11.20FY2026 $-4.68FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -33.7%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026 -291.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +75.0% +2.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $66.54BFY2026 $4.61BFY2026 $15.35BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +12.6%FY2026 +13.6%FY2026 +7.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +13.5% +4.2% +9.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersUALSKYWALK
Held by institutions 89.6% 92.2% 92.1%
Institutions holding 1,066 350 490
Change in shares held, QoQ +2.4% -1.1% +0.0%
Institutions buying 568 181 265
Institutions selling 341 140 146
Buyers to sellers 1.67 1.29 1.82

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.

UALSKYWALK
UAL 1.00 0.75 0.82
SKYW 0.75 1.00 0.77
ALK 0.82 0.77 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, UAL, SKYW and ALK?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) is the largest by market capitalisation: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) $33.77B, Skywest (SKYW) $3.76B, Alaska Air (ALK) $3.97B.

Which stock is cheaper, UAL, SKYW and ALK?

Skywest (SKYW) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 9.4x, Skywest (SKYW) 9.2x, Alaska Air (ALK) -10.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Skywest (SKYW) is cheapest (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 14.9x, Skywest (SKYW) 8.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

United Airlines Holdings (UAL) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +12.3%, Skywest (SKYW) +9.1%, Alaska Air (ALK) +8.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Skywest (SKYW) has the highest net margin (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 5.5%, Skywest (SKYW) 9.8%). On return on invested capital, Skywest (SKYW) leads (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 8.9%, Skywest (SKYW) 8.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year United Airlines Holdings (UAL) returned the most: United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +6.0%, Skywest (SKYW) -5.4%, Alaska Air (ALK) -19.8%. Over five years, United Airlines Holdings (UAL) compounded fastest (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) +17.9%/yr, Skywest (SKYW) +15.8%/yr, Alaska Air (ALK) -7.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Skywest (SKYW) has been the steadiest (United Airlines Holdings (UAL) 48.2%, Skywest (SKYW) 37.4%, Alaska Air (ALK) 52.0%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.