DAL vs UAL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
DAL has long been viewed as the industry's premium operator with superior reliability, margins, and loyalty economics, while UAL offers a strong international network and an aggressive premium-expansion strategy aimed at closing the historical margin gap with Delta.
DAL vs UAL contrasts the airline industry's traditional margin and reliability leader against a strong international competitor pursuing an ambitious premium-revenue growth strategy.
UAL holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. DAL has delivered stronger 1-year price return (+77.90% vs +60.61%), though UAL trades at the lower forward P/E (8.13x vs 10.31x). On fundamentals, DAL is growing revenue faster (12.90%), while UAL maintains the higher operating margin (4.35%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for UAL (+14.34%) than for DAL (-1.50%).
- →Want exposure to the airline industry's most consistent operator
- →Value strong premium and loyalty revenue economics
- →Prefer a track record of superior margins among legacy carriers
- →Want exposure to a strong international long-haul network
- →Believe United's premium cabin expansion will close the margin gap with Delta
- →See upside in continued operational and loyalty program improvement
| Metric | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| AI score | 41.6 | 53.2 |
| AI rank | #929 | #307 |
| Latest close | $84.18 | $118.32 |
| 1M return | +24.23% | +32.76% |
| 6M return | +20.74% | +7.30% |
| 1Y return | +77.90% | +60.61% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $17.7K (+77.0%) started 2025-06-18 | $15.92K (+59.2%) started 2025-06-18 |
| 5Y ago | $19.18K (+91.8%) started 2021-06-21 | $21.25K (+112.5%) started 2021-06-21 |
| 10Y ago | $27.71K (+177.1%) started 2016-06-20 | $27.26K (+172.6%) started 2016-06-20 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $54.57B | $37.49B |
| Trailing P/E | 12.13 | 10.33 |
| Forward P/E | 10.31 | 8.13 |
| Price/Sales | N/A | 0.48 |
| EV/Revenue | 1.08 | 0.90 |
| Analyst target | $81.81 | $132.08 |
| Target upside | -1.50% | +14.34% |
| Metric | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | 12.90% | 10.60% |
| Earnings growth | 44.60% | 84.50% |
| EPS growth | +44.60% | +84.50% |
| FCF margin | +4.75% | +2.72% |
| Operating margin | 3.18% | 4.35% |
| Profit margin | 6.87% | 6.06% |
| ROIC proxy | 24.99% | 25.73% |
| Return on equity | 24.99% | 25.73% |
| Dividend yield | 0.90% | N/A |
| Beta | 1.31 | 1.29 |
| Debt/equity | 105.02 | 195.08 |
| Current ratio | 0.42 | 0.70 |
| Quick ratio | 0.28 | 0.61 |
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growth | +77.00% | +59.25% |
| CAGR | +77.14% | +59.35% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 1.48 | 1.10 | |
| Max drawdown | 23.11% | 27.50% | |
| Max daily drop | 6.82% | 8.70% | |
| Max wkly drop | 13.05% | 18.04% | |
| 5Y | Growth | +87.82% | +112.46% |
| CAGR | +13.46% | +16.29% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.40 | 0.46 | |
| Max drawdown | 47.92% | 49.19% | |
| Max daily drop | 12.78% | 15.61% | |
| Max wkly drop | 24.57% | 29.73% | |
| 10Y | Growth | +146.75% | +172.63% |
| CAGR | +9.46% | +10.56% | |
| Sharpe ratio | 0.32 | 0.37 | |
| Max drawdown | 69.18% | 79.40% | |
| Max daily drop | 25.99% | 30.29% | |
| Max wkly drop | 44.95% | 56.67% |
| Category | DAL | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Delta Air Lines, Inc. | United Airlines Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | N/A | Airlines |
| Core business | Delta Air Lines is one of the largest U.S. legacy carriers, operating an extensive domestic and international network with a strong hub system and a high-margin premium and loyalty revenue strategy. | United Airlines operates one of the largest global route networks among U.S. carriers, with a strong international long-haul presence and a growing focus on premium cabin expansion and loyalty monetization. |
| Investor focus | Investors track Delta's premium cabin and loyalty (SkyMiles/Amex co-brand) revenue growth, operational reliability metrics, and margin leadership relative to peers. | Investors track United's international long-haul capacity growth, premium seat expansion strategy, and progress narrowing its historical margin gap with Delta. |
- →Industry-leading operational reliability and on-time performance
- →Strong premium and loyalty revenue mix supports higher margins
- →Lucrative American Express co-brand credit card partnership
- →Extensive international long-haul network with strong hub positions like Chicago, Newark, and Houston
- →Aggressive premium cabin expansion strategy aimed at higher-margin revenue
- →Growing loyalty program monetization through MileagePlus
- →Highly cyclical industry sensitive to fuel costs and economic downturns
- →Labor cost inflation following recent pilot and crew contract negotiations
- →Heavy capital intensity of fleet maintenance and renewal
- →Historically less consistent operational reliability than Delta
- →Margins have lagged Delta though the gap has been narrowing
- →Significant fleet investment required to execute premium expansion plans
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