JBLU vs UAL Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
JetBlue offers a smaller, leisure-focused airline turnaround story, while United provides scale, global reach, and a diversified premium and loyalty revenue base.
Investors weighing JetBlue against United are choosing between a higher-risk restructuring bet and a larger, more diversified network carrier.
UAL holds the edge across 5 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. UAL leads on both 1-year return (-1.78%) and forward P/E quality (7.26x vs -3.41x for JBLU), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. UAL leads on both revenue growth (16.00%) and operating margin (5.53%), suggesting a stronger fundamental setup on both dimensions. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for UAL (+45.94%) than for JBLU (+19.36%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Believe in the airline's cost-restructuring turnaround plan
- Want exposure to East Coast and Caribbean leisure travel demand
- Can tolerate higher volatility and thinner margins
- Are looking for a smaller-cap airline recovery story
- Prefer scale and global network diversification
- Want exposure to growing premium cabin and loyalty revenue
- Seek a more established, cash-generating network carrier
- Are comfortable with typical airline cyclicality and debt levels
| Metric | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 24.5 | 42.6 |
| AI ranki | #2919 | #810 |
| Latest closei | $3.06 | $101.31 |
| 1M returni | -28.83% | -5.25% |
| 3M returni | -43.54% | -14.73% |
| 6M returni | -47.87% | +6.61% |
| 1Y returni | -35.85% | -1.78% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $6.42K (-35.8%) started 2025-10-16 | $9.74K (-2.6%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $2.05K (-79.5%) started 2021-10-18 | $21.48K (+114.8%) started 2021-10-18 |
| 10Y ago | $1.72K (-82.8%) started 2016-10-17 | $19.1K (+91.0%) started 2016-10-17 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $1.45B | $35.9B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | 10.36 |
| Forward P/Ei | -3.41 | 7.26 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | 0.48 |
| EV/Revenuei | 0.93 | 0.84 |
| Analyst targeti | $4.58 | $161.41 |
| Target upsidei | +19.36% | +45.94% |
| Metric | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 14.50% | 16.00% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | -17.20% |
| EPS growthi | N/A | -17.20% |
| FCF margini | -9.69% | +1.45% |
| Operating margini | -5.23% | 5.53% |
| Profit margini | -9.32% | 5.56% |
| ROIC proxyi | -44.35% | 23.25% |
| Return on equityi | -44.35% | 23.25% |
| Dividend yieldi | 0.00% | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | No increase yet |
| Betai | 1.77 | 1.29 |
| Debt/equityi | 591.43 | 201.64 |
| Current ratioi | 0.70 | 0.78 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.54 | 0.69 |
Over the past year, JBLU and UAL have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.68), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -35.85% | -2.63% |
| CAGRi | -35.87% | -2.64% | |
| Volatilityi | 63.69% | 48.06% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.45 | 0.09 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.67 | 0.14 | |
| Max drawdowni | 53.41% | 27.50% | |
| Current drawdowni | 52.63% | 25.57% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 17.38% | 11.29% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 21.18% | 13.76% | |
| Max daily dropi | 11.86% | 8.70% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 24.18% | 18.04% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | -79.54% | +114.78% |
| CAGRi | -27.22% | +16.55% | |
| Volatilityi | 61.35% | 48.93% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.28 | 0.46 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.40 | 0.70 | |
| Max drawdowni | 81.41% | 49.19% | |
| Current drawdowni | 81.10% | 25.57% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 56.67% | 16.78% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 59.54% | 19.97% | |
| Max daily dropi | 25.71% | 15.61% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 25.34% | 29.73% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | -82.78% | +91.04% |
| CAGRi | -16.14% | +6.69% | |
| Volatilityi | 55.23% | 51.73% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.13 | 0.30 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.19 | 0.44 | |
| Max drawdowni | 87.33% | 79.40% | |
| Current drawdowni | 87.12% | 25.57% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 47.42% | 31.78% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 54.57% | 39.09% | |
| Max daily dropi | 25.71% | 30.29% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 43.55% | 56.67% |
| Category | JBLU | UAL |
|---|---|---|
| Company | JetBlue Airways Corporation | United Airlines Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Airlines | Airlines |
| Core business | JetBlue is a low-cost carrier focused on East Coast, Caribbean, and transatlantic leisure routes with a premium-lite cabin experience. | United Airlines operates one of the largest global route networks, with a strong hub system and significant international and corporate travel exposure. |
| Investor focus | Watch for progress on its cost-cutting and network restructuring plan and whether leisure travel demand stays resilient. | Watch premium cabin revenue trends, corporate travel demand, and fuel cost management. |
- Loyal customer base in strong East Coast markets
- Newer, more fuel-efficient fleet than many legacy peers
- Ongoing cost-restructuring initiative targeting margin improvement
- Extensive global network with strong hub positioning
- Growing premium and loyalty program revenue mix
- Scale advantages in fleet utilization and cost absorption
- Smaller scale limits negotiating leverage with airports and suppliers
- Heavy exposure to leisure travel makes revenue cyclical
- History of thin or negative operating margins versus larger rivals
- High fixed costs and debt load typical of network carriers
- Exposure to international demand and geopolitical disruptions
- Fuel price volatility remains a persistent margin risk
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