American Airlines (AAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026)
American Airlines (AAL) posted Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] of 3.64% for Q2 2026, down 2.74 percentage points from 6.38% a year earlier and down 0.13 percentage points from the prior quarter.
American Airlines (AAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025, American Airlines' Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] came in at 3.25%, down 3.81 percentage points from FY2024.
- 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).
- Quarterly Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has run from a low of -6.84% in Q3 2021 to a high of 12.58% in Q2 2023 over five years.
- On a year-over-year basis, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has declined in each of the last three quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -1.82 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 3.77% (Q1 2026), 3.37% (Q4 2025) and 6.05% (Q3 2025).
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Pacific | 165.28 Bn | 159.81 Bn | - | 15.51% |
| 2 | Csx | 87.86 Bn | 84.08 Bn | - | 11.65% |
| 3 | Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 75.56 Bn | 75.27 Bn | - | 5.85% |
| 4 | Norfolk Southern | 71.27 Bn | 65.91 Bn | - | 9.62% |
| 5 | United Parcel Service | 69.70 Bn | 46.62 Bn | - | 12.85% |
| 6 | Fedex | 68.71 Bn | 34.65 Bn | - | 7.44% |
| 7 | Delta Air Lines | 55.32 Bn | 37.50 Bn | - | 11.82% |
| 8 | Old Dominion Freight Line | 37.44 Bn | 36.71 Bn | - | 24.14% |
| 9 | United Airlines Holdings | 36.52 Bn | -19.85 Bn | - | 9.15% |
| 10 | American Airlines | 8.57 Bn | -15.47 Bn | - | 3.64% |
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| 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% |
| Sep 30, 2021 | -6.84% |
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_KEY
import 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();