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Major US airline operating a global hub network, a Star Alliance member, with domestic and international passenger and cargo service.
Major US airline operating a global hub network, a Star Alliance member, with domestic and international passenger and cargo service.
Earns most from ticket sales, with premium cabins and corporate accounts bringing higher fares. The loyalty program adds steady income because banks, mainly Chase through co-branded cards, buy miles from United to give cardholders. Hubs in Chicago, Newark, Denver, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington feed the network.
Moat: narrow (network effects, scale, installed base). Hub gates/slots and global alliance network create scale and switching-cost advantages.
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, US · Founded: 1926 · Employees: 113,200
Size United Airlines (UAL) is a United States Industrials company (Airlines) with a market value of $36.6B, the 314th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $112.74 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 13.2%, against +8.5% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 5th highest of 15 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 12.3% over the last twelve months (peer median +12.5%); the operating margin is 6.4% (peer median 7.4%).
Valuation It trades at 13.6× forward earnings against a peer median of 13.1× (5th most expensive of 12).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 8% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +31%, so the hurdle is -23 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 0.1 points above its cost of capital (8.7% WACC).
Credit United Airlines has 16 bonds outstanding ($6.00B), rated BBB- by the agencies and trading like BB+ at a weighted spread of 140 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 4.2% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 20 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $65.6B | $59.1B | $57.1B | $53.7B | $45.0B |
| Revenue growth | — | +4% | +6% | +19% | — |
| Gross profit | $17.1B | $17.0B | $16.5B | $15.2B | $10.6B |
| EBITDA | $7.21B | $7.91B | $8.14B | $7.83B | $4.93B |
| Net income | $3.58B | $3.35B | $3.15B | $2.62B | $737M |
| Free cash flow | $1.12B | $2.56B | $3.83B | -$260M | $1.25B |
| Capital expenditure | $7.04B | $5.87B | $5.62B | $7.17B | $4.82B |
| Total debt | $34.3B | $31.0B | $33.6B | $36.7B | $37.3B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines UAL | $36.6B | +13% | +12% | 6% | 13.6× | 7.8% |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | $57.4B | +19% | +14% | 7% | 13.4× | 9.9% |
| American Airlines AAL | $8.73B | -1% | +12% | 2% | n/a | n/a |
| Southwest Airlines LUV | $21.8B | +8% | +14% | 5% | 13.7× | n/a |
| Deutsche Lufthansa LHA.DE | $11.4B | +7% | +8% | -1% | 9.7× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | UAL | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +4.9% | +6.0% | 6th lowest of 15 |
| 6-month return | +13.2% | +8.5% | 5th highest of 15 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -18.8% | -16.4% | 6th lowest of 15 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +12.3% | +12.5% | 8th highest of 15 |
| Operating margin | 6.4% | 7.4% | 6th lowest of 15 |
| Forward P/E | 13.6× | 13.1× | 5th most expensive of 12 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 7.8% | 1.2% | 5th most demanding of 11 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +30.9% | +29.6% | 5th highest of 11 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -23.2 pp | -34.4 pp | 5th most demanding of 11 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +0.1 pp | +3.5 pp | 6th lowest of 15 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.8× | 7.1× | 6th most expensive of 15 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.7× | 1.8× | 5th most indebted of 15 |
| Bond spread | 140 bp | 101 bp | 2nd widest of 7 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines UAL | United States | $36.6B | +13% | +12% | 6% | 13.6× | 7.8% | +30.9% |
| Ryanair Holdings PLC Sponsored ADR RYAAY | United States | $29.5B | +2% | +9% | 13% | 17.0× | 6.4% | +56.7% |
| International Consolidated Airlines IAG.L | United Kingdom | $25.3B | +9% | +4% | 14% | 8.3× | -3.9% | +32.4% |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | United States | $57.4B | +19% | +14% | 7% | 13.4× | 9.9% | +30.0% |
| InterGlobe Aviation INDIGO.NS | India | $22.4B | +22% | +13% | 8% | 105.8× | 25.5% | +42.2% |
| Southwest Airlines LUV | United States | $21.8B | +8% | +14% | 5% | 13.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Singapore Airlines C6L.SI | Singapore | $17.2B | +11% | +5% | 12% | 30.1× | -11.0% | +40.0% |
| Air China 0753.HK | Hong Kong | $15.4B | -27% | +11% | -4% | n/a | 11.7% | +18.9% |
| LATAM Airlines Group SA Sponsored ADR LTM | United States | $13.8B | -7% | +21% | 14% | 7.0× | -7.2% | +29.3% |
| China Southern Airlines 1055.HK | Hong Kong | $12.3B | -32% | +12% | 0% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Cathay Pacific Airways 0293.HK | Hong Kong | $11.7B | +19% | +20% | 11% | 8.1× | -12.4% | +20.0% |
| Deutsche Lufthansa LHA.DE | Germany | $11.4B | +7% | +8% | -1% | 9.7× | n/a | n/a |
| China Eastern Airlines 0670.HK | Hong Kong | $10.8B | -40% | +13% | -4% | n/a | 18.6% | +18.1% |
| Qantas Airways QAN.AX | Australia | $9.79B | +9% | +8% | 7% | 10.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Ana 9202.T | Japan | $9.77B | +24% | +17% | 8% | 13.1× | -10.0% | +28.4% |
United Airlines has 16 bonds outstanding with $6.00B face value. The agencies rate it BBB-; its bonds trade like BB+. Weighted yield 5.91%, a spread of 140 bp over government bonds.