5 companies · median 14 of 36 checks · prices as of 2026-09-08
Airlines stocks.
Sorted by how many checks each one passes. Sort by any column to see who is cheapest, who is growing, or who has the strongest balance sheet - and how that compares with what is normal for the industry.
Ranked by checks passed
5 of 201 covered companies→There is real spread here - FedEx (FDX) leads on 22 of 36 checks, American Airlines (AAL) trails on 11, with a median of 14.
→FDX, DAL, UAL are 85% of the $188.8B we cover here, so a sector average says more about them than about the rest.
 FedExFDXDelivers parcels and freight worldwide through FedEx Express, Ground and Freight.ReportFact sheet | -2.6% | +74.5% | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 22/36 |
 Delta Air LinesDALThe most profitable US airline, with a large premium and loyalty business.ReportFact sheet | -1.5% | +30.5% | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 17/36 |
 United AirlinesUALA large US airline with a strong international network.ReportFact sheet | -2.8% | +1.5% | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14/36 |
 Southwest AirlinesLUVA low-fare US airline flying Boeing 737s point to point.ReportFact sheet | -2.4% | +25.4% | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14/36 |
 American AirlinesAALThe largest US airline by fleet, carrying the most debt.ReportFact sheet | -1.7% | -1.3% | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 11/36 |
The filings behind this table close between 2026-05-31 and 2026-06-30, because these companies do not share a fiscal calendar; prices are the close of 2026-09-08. Each name links to its full report; every score is a count of pass-or-fail checks read from that company's own filings.
Where the sector falls short
median score per axis→Trend analysis is where the airlines we cover come up short most often, at a median of 1 of 6, while Value runs at 4.
| Value | ●●●●○○ | 4 of 6 |
| Growth | ●●●○○○ | 3 of 6 |
| Quality | ●●●○○○ | 3 of 6 |
| Health | ●●●●○○ | 4 of 6 |
| Shareholder returns | ●●●○○○ | 3 of 6 |
| Trend analysis | ●○○○○○ | 1 of 6 |
Who grows, and who keeps it
every company in the industry→None of the airlines we cover both grow faster than this industry's middle and keep more of each sale than it does. The industry's middle is 4% growth on a 2% margin. LUV does neither.
A year of price
not a fact about the business→4 of 5 are up over twelve months and the median move is +25.4% - FedEx (FDX) at +74.5% against American Airlines (AAL) at -1.3%. Price is not a fact about a business, and the Trend chapter of each report says what it is measured on.
Head to head
1 pairThe table above gives the order. These put two of them in one column each, so you can see where the difference actually is.