Alaska Air Group vs United Airlines
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The short version
- United Airlines is the larger business, with $59.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $14.2B for Alaska Air Group, about 4.1 times as much.
- Alaska Air Group grew revenue faster (21.3%, against 3.5%).
- United Airlines kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (8.0% operating margin, against 2.1%).
- Alaska Air Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (6.6% FCF margin, against 4.3%).
- United Airlines earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (15.3%, against 2.9%).
| Latest fiscal year | ALK · FY25 | UAL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.8B | $32.1B |
| Revenue | $14.2B | $59.1B |
| Free cash flow | $940M | $2.6B |
| Net income | $100M | $3.4B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 21.3% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 31.9% | 30.9% |
| Share count change | −6.6% | −1.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 2.1% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 0.7% | 5.7% |
| FCF margin | 6.6% | 4.3% |
| Return on capital | 2.9% | 15.3% |
| Return on equity | 2.4% | 24.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.4B | $9.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $570M | $637M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 9.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
ALK $5.9B
UAL $36.6B
FY17
ALK $7.9B
UAL $37.7B
FY18
ALK $8.3B
UAL $41.3B
FY19
ALK $8.8B
UAL $43.3B
FY20
ALK $3.6B
UAL $15.4B
FY21
ALK $6.2B
UAL $24.6B
FY22
ALK $9.6B
UAL $45.0B
FY23
ALK $10.4B
UAL $53.7B
FY24
ALK $11.7B
UAL $57.1B
FY25
ALK $14.2B
UAL $59.1B
ALK
UAL
Operating margin
FY16
ALK 22.0%
UAL 11.9%
FY17
ALK 15.3%
UAL 9.6%
FY18
ALK 7.8%
UAL 7.8%
FY19
ALK 12.1%
UAL 9.9%
FY20
ALK −49.8%
UAL −41.4%
FY21
ALK 11.1%
UAL −4.2%
FY22
ALK 0.7%
UAL 5.2%
FY23
ALK 3.8%
UAL 7.8%
FY24
ALK 4.9%
UAL 8.9%
FY25
ALK 2.1%
UAL 8.0%
ALK
UAL
Free cash flow
FY16
ALK $708M
UAL $2.3B
FY17
ALK $564M
UAL −$396M
FY18
ALK $235M
UAL $2.1B
FY19
ALK $1.0B
UAL $2.4B
FY20
ALK −$456M
UAL −$5.9B
FY21
ALK $738M
UAL −$40.0M
FY22
ALK −$253M
UAL $1.2B
FY23
ALK −$444M
UAL −$260M
FY24
ALK $1.2B
UAL $3.8B
FY25
ALK $940M
UAL $2.6B
ALK
UAL
Return on capital
FY16
ALK 26.8%
UAL 17.4%
FY17
ALK 23.4%
UAL 15.5%
FY18
ALK 10.6%
UAL 13.6%
FY19
ALK 18.0%
UAL 16.0%
FY20
ALK −37.7%
UAL −23.5%
FY21
ALK 16.4%
UAL −3.9%
FY22
ALK 1.5%
UAL 8.3%
FY23
ALK 6.8%
UAL 14.1%
FY24
ALK 7.1%
UAL 16.2%
FY25
ALK 2.9%
UAL 15.3%
ALK
UAL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.