American Airlines (AAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026)
American Airlines (AAL) posted Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] of 3.25% for Q3 2026, down 2.80 percentage points from 6.05% a year earlier and down 0.39 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
American Airlines (AAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
Since Q3 2010, American Airlines has reported Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] for 61 quarters.
- Annual Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] shows a five-year change of +35.64 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In prior years, American Airlines' Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 7.06% in FY2024 (-0.67 pp), 7.73% in FY2023 (+4.11 pp), 3.62% in FY2022 (+6.56 pp) and -2.93% in FY2021 (+29.45 pp).
- The Q3 2026 figure stands as the lowest quarterly Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] since Q3 2022.
- On a year-over-year basis, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has declined in each of the last four quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -1.65 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The strongest year-over-year quarter for Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] in the past five years was Q4 2021, with a gain of 27.84 percentage points; the weakest was Q2 2024, with a drop of 5.81 percentage points.
- According to Business Quant data, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] for the three prior quarters was 3.64% (Q2 2026), 3.77% (Q1 2026) and 3.37% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Pacific | 172.47 Bn | 164.72 Bn | - | 15.71% |
| 2 | United Parcel Service | 92.24 Bn | 69.07 Bn | - | 12.25% |
| 3 | Csx | 90.81 Bn | 86.03 Bn | - | 12.59% |
| 4 | Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 81.61 Bn | 80.64 Bn | - | 5.96% |
| 5 | Fedex | 72.98 Bn | 39.17 Bn | - | 7.49% |
| 6 | Norfolk Southern | 71.87 Bn | 66.34 Bn | - | 9.67% |
| 7 | Delta Air Lines | 57.23 Bn | 39.41 Bn | - | 10.82% |
| 8 | United Airlines Holdings | 36.65 Bn | -21.05 Bn | - | 8.90% |
| 9 | Old Dominion Freight Line | 34.12 Bn | 32.96 Bn | - | 25.01% |
| 10 | American Airlines | 8.74 Bn | -16.44 Bn | - | 3.25% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 3.25% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 3.64% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 3.77% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 3.37% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 6.05% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 6.38% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 6.76% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 7.18% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 5.58% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 6.78% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 6.90% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 7.93% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 9.81% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 12.58% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 9.85% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 3.74% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | -1.54% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | -2.41% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | -3.82% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | -2.68% |
API Access
American Airlines Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=AAL&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-invested-capital-[roic]", "ticker": "AAL", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=AAL&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();