Delta Air Lines vs Southwest Airlines
DAL and LUV side by side, both in air transportation, scheduled, and air courier. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How DAL and LUV compare
Delta Air Lines is the larger company, worth 2.5 times as much as Southwest Airlines ($52.7B against $20.8B).
On earnings, Delta Air Lines is cheaper: it trades at 16.0× trailing earnings, against 26.9× for Southwest Airlines.
Delta Air Lines grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (14.1% versus 9.5% for Southwest Airlines).
Delta Air Lines keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 4.6% compared with 2.8% at Southwest Airlines.
Both pay dividends: Delta Air Lines yields 1.0% and Southwest Airlines 1.7%.
Delta Air Lines scores higher on the StockData Score (10 against 9 for Southwest Airlines), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | DAL | LUV |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $52.7B | $20.8B |
| Share price | $80.15 | $42.43 |
| Change, 1 year | 36.4% | 38.4% |
| Change, 5 years | 81.0% | −18.8% |
| Beta (5Y) | 1.28 | 1.02 |
| Employees | 103K | 73K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 10 (better) | 9 |
| Valuation score | 1 | 2 (better) |
| Growth score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Performance score | 3 (better) | 1 |
| Health score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Dividend score | 2 | 2 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 16.0× (better) | 26.9× |
| P/S | 0.7× | 0.7× (better) |
| P/B | 2.3× (better) | 2.9× |
| EV/EBITDA | 7.8× (better) | 8.8× |
| PEG | 0.29 | – |
| FCF yield | – | −2.2% |
| Fair value | $71.35 | $43.40 |
| Margin of safety | −12.3% | 2.2% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 14.1% (better) | 9.5% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 30.0% (better) | 25.4% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −28.9% | 114% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −29.4% | 143% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 7.4% (better) | 3.5% |
| Net margin | 4.6% (better) | 2.8% |
| FCF margin | – | −1.5% |
| Return on equity | 15.9% (better) | 11.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 13.2% (better) | 9.3% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.54 (better) | 0.84 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.06 | 0.83 (better) |
| Interest coverage | – | 5.2× |
| Current ratio | 0.40 | 0.49 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 1.50 | 2.16 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 (better) | 6 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.0% | 1.7% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 15.7% | 44.2% |
| Years of dividend growth | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 11.0% | 32.0% (better) |
| Buyback yield | – | 7.5% |
| Shareholder yield | 1.0% | 9.2% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 88.3% | 92.9% |
| Held by insiders | 0.55% | 6.1% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$122M | −$307K (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Short interest, % of float | 3.9% | 5.3% |
Go deeper
- DAL stock overview
- DAL income statement
- DAL valuation and score
- LUV stock overview
- LUV income statement
- LUV valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.