United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) Key Metrics
UAL valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $31.19B
- Enterprise value
- $54.43B
- P/E (TTM)
- 9.0 10-yr median 10.5
- Forward P/E
- 7.4
- PEG ratio
- 6.50
- Price / sales
- 0.5 10-yr median 0.6
- Price / book
- 2.2 10-yr median 2.3
- EV / EBITDA
- 9.8 10-yr median 6.1
- Dividend yield
- —
- Beta
- 1.30
UAL key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsUAL valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
UAL returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
UAL per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
UAL financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
UAL efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
UAL valuation history
UAL returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
UAL debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
UAL cash returned to shareholders
UAL price vs earnings per share
UAL key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $36.57B | $32.35B | $13.69B | $12.44B | $14.09B | $12.08B | $22.89B | $23.17B | $20.46B | $24.07B |
| Enterprise value | $55.36B | $51.51B | $36.05B | $32.46B | $35.05B | $33.15B | $38.40B | $39.01B | $31.06B | $31.35B |
| P/E ratio | 10.9 | 10.3 | 5.2 | 16.9 | — | — | 7.6 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 10.6 |
| Price / sales | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Price / book | 2.4 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.8 |
| Price / free cash flow | 14.3 | 8.4 | — | 10.0 | — | — | 9.6 | 11.1 | — | 10.4 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 4.3 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 6.8 | — | 3.3 | 3.8 | 5.9 | 4.3 |
| EV / sales | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.3 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 6.3 | 23.3 | — | 5.6 | 7.2 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| EV / free cash flow | 21.7 | 13.4 | — | 26.0 | — | — | 16.1 | 18.6 | — | 13.5 |
| Earnings yield | 9.2% | 9.7% | 19.1% | 5.9% | −13.9% | −58.5% | 13.1% | 9.2% | 10.5% | 9.4% |
| Free cash flow yield | 7.0% | 11.8% | −1.9% | 10.0% | −0.3% | −48.5% | 10.4% | 9.0% | −1.9% | 9.6% |
| Dividend yield | — | — | — | — | — | 132.8% | — | 5.3% | 9.0% | 0.0% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 1.7% | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 135.7% | 7.2% | 10.7% | 18.0% | 10.9% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $111.82 | $97.10 | $41.26 | $37.70 | $43.78 | $43.25 | $88.09 | $83.73 | $67.40 | $72.88 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $180.64 | $171.26 | $161.85 | $136.19 | $76.53 | $54.96 | $166.44 | $149.27 | $124.45 | $110.68 |
| Earnings per share | $10.25 | $9.45 | $7.89 | $2.23 | −$6.10 | −$25.30 | $11.58 | $7.67 | $7.06 | $6.85 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $25.78 | $28.35 | $20.82 | $18.38 | $6.42 | −$14.79 | $26.58 | $22.28 | $11.44 | $16.78 |
| Free cash flow per share | $7.82 | $11.49 | −$0.78 | $3.78 | −$0.12 | −$20.97 | $9.16 | $7.57 | −$1.30 | $7.02 |
| Cash per share | $37.43 | $43.44 | $43.35 | $49.72 | $57.18 | $41.81 | $19.02 | $14.28 | $12.51 | $13.41 |
| Book value per share | $46.73 | $38.04 | $28.09 | $20.89 | $15.62 | $21.33 | $44.37 | $36.29 | $28.77 | $26.22 |
| Tangible book value per share | $24.77 | $16.40 | $6.24 | −$1.19 | −$7.15 | −$5.03 | $15.39 | $8.53 | $2.21 | $1.53 |
| Dividends per share | — | — | — | — | — | $57.42 | — | $4.46 | $6.07 | $0.00 |
| Capex per share | $17.96 | $16.85 | $21.61 | $14.60 | $6.55 | $6.18 | $17.42 | $14.71 | $12.75 | $9.76 |
| Debt per share | $94.91 | $100.94 | $110.69 | $110.37 | $122.29 | $117.22 | $78.68 | $71.51 | $47.40 | $35.44 |
| Shares outstanding | 327.0M | 333.2M | 331.9M | 330.1M | 321.9M | 279.4M | 259.9M | 276.7M | 303.6M | 330.3M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −1.9% | +0.4% | +0.5% | +2.5% | +15.2% | +7.5% | −6.1% | −8.9% | −8.1% | −12.4% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 24.0% | 28.6% | 32.3% | 12.4% | −35.7% | −80.8% | 27.9% | 22.6% | 24.6% | 25.7% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 11.1% | 12.1% | 11.1% | 6.6% | −3.0% | −18.6% | 12.5% | 11.4% | 14.5% | 16.4% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 4.5% | 4.3% | 3.8% | 1.1% | −3.1% | −12.6% | 5.9% | 4.6% | 5.2% | 5.6% |
| Return on tangible assets | 4.8% | 4.7% | 4.1% | 1.2% | −3.2% | −13.5% | 6.7% | 5.1% | 6.3% | 7.1% |
| Free cash flow margin | 4.3% | 6.7% | −0.5% | 2.8% | −0.2% | −38.2% | 5.5% | 5.1% | −1.0% | 6.3% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 2.51 | 3.00 | 2.64 | 8.23 | — | — | 2.30 | 2.90 | 1.62 | 2.45 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $31.04B | $33.63B | $36.74B | $36.43B | $39.37B | $32.75B | $20.45B | $19.79B | $14.39B | $11.71B |
| Cash & short-term investments | $12.24B | $14.47B | $14.39B | $16.41B | $18.41B | $11.68B | $4.94B | $3.95B | $3.80B | $4.43B |
| Net debt | $18.80B | $19.16B | $22.35B | $20.02B | $20.96B | $21.07B | $15.51B | $15.84B | $10.59B | $7.28B |
| Debt / equity | 2.03 | 2.65 | 3.94 | 5.28 | 7.83 | 5.50 | 1.77 | 1.97 | 1.65 | 1.35 |
| Debt / assets | 0.41 | 0.45 | 0.52 | 0.54 | 0.58 | 0.55 | 0.39 | 0.40 | 0.34 | 0.29 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.49 | 2.25 | 2.85 | 3.91 | 13.93 | — | 2.26 | 2.92 | 1.83 | 1.15 |
| Current ratio | 0.65 | 0.81 | 0.83 | 1.00 | 1.19 | 1.16 | 0.55 | 0.51 | 0.56 | 0.59 |
| Quick ratio | 0.59 | 0.74 | 0.76 | 0.95 | 1.14 | 1.09 | 0.48 | 0.44 | 0.49 | 0.52 |
| Interest coverage | 3.9 | 3.6 | 2.4 | 1.4 | -0.6 | -6.4 | 6.7 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 7.2 |
| Working capital | −$9.28B | −$4.43B | −$3.72B | $66.0M | $3.53B | $2.08B | −$6.74B | −$6.75B | −$5.63B | −$4.98B |
| Invested capital | $34.08B | $31.83B | $31.68B | $26.91B | $25.99B | $27.03B | $27.04B | $25.88B | $19.33B | $15.94B |
| Tangible asset value | $8.10B | $5.47B | $2.07B | −$393.0M | −$2.30B | −$1.41B | $4.00B | $2.36B | $672.0M | $504.0M |
| Net current asset value | −$44.31B | −$42.52B | −$43.29B | −$40.40B | −$41.31B | −$38.79B | −$32.89B | −$31.89B | −$26.48B | −$24.17B |
| Graham number | $103.84 | $89.94 | $70.61 | $32.40 | — | — | $107.51 | $79.13 | $67.59 | $63.57 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$141.76 | −$133.63 | −$136.15 | −$127.67 | −$133.59 | −$144.84 | −$133.04 | −$120.96 | −$93.37 | −$77.91 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | — | — | — | — | — | $16.04B | — | $1.24B | $1.84B | $0 |
| Share buybacks (net) | $637.0M | $162.0M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $353.0M | $1.65B | $1.24B | $1.84B | $2.61B |
| Dividend payout ratio | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 58.2% | 86.0% | 0.0% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 24.9% | 4.2% | — | 0.0% | — | — | 69.1% | 118.0% | — | 112.7% |
| Capex / revenue | 9.9% | 9.8% | 13.3% | 10.7% | 8.6% | 11.2% | 10.5% | 9.9% | 10.2% | 8.8% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 69.7% | 59.4% | 103.8% | 79.4% | 101.9% | — | 65.5% | 66.0% | 111.4% | 58.2% |
| Capex / depreciation | 2.00 | 1.92 | 2.68 | 1.96 | 0.85 | 0.75 | 1.98 | 1.88 | 1.80 | 1.63 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | — | — | 0.1% | 0.2% | 1.0% | 0.7% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| SG&A / revenue | 7.1% | 7.8% | 7.4% | 43.7% | 5.5% | 87.7% | 46.2% | 7.5% | 7.1% | 7.1% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 14.1 | 13.0 | 12.6 | 14.1 | 21.9 | 31.6 | 11.8 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 11.5 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 26.9 | 15.2 | 12.7 | 11.1 | 14.6 | 17.9 | 12.2 | 11.5 | 12.1 | 11.8 |
| Days payables outstanding | 75.4 | 38.9 | 34.3 | 31.7 | 31.7 | 38.5 | 30.0 | 27.5 | 29.3 | 29.4 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | -34.4 | -10.7 | -9.0 | -6.5 | 4.8 | 11.1 | -6.1 | -3.8 | -5.0 | -6.1 |
| Receivables turnover | 25.94 | 28.10 | 29.04 | 25.96 | 16.66 | 11.55 | 31.01 | 29.86 | 30.03 | 31.73 |
| Payables turnover | 4.84 | 9.38 | 10.66 | 11.52 | 11.50 | 9.49 | 12.15 | 13.26 | 12.46 | 12.40 |
| Inventory turnover | 13.55 | 24.03 | 28.85 | 32.81 | 24.97 | 20.34 | 29.93 | 31.67 | 30.06 | 30.86 |
| Asset turnover | 0.78 | 0.79 | 0.78 | 0.66 | 0.39 | 0.27 | 0.85 | 0.90 | 0.92 | 0.90 |
| Average receivables | $2.28B | $2.03B | $1.85B | $1.73B | $1.48B | $1.33B | $1.40B | $1.38B | $1.26B | $1.15B |
| Average payables | $4.38B | $4.01B | $3.62B | $2.98B | $2.08B | $2.15B | $2.53B | $2.28B | $2.17B | $2.00B |
| Average inventory | $1.56B | $1.57B | $1.33B | $1.05B | $957.5M | $1.00B | $1.03B | $954.5M | $898.5M | $805.5M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 9.4% | 9.7% | 10.2% | 10.8% | 10.8% | 12.4% | 14.3% | 15.7% | 19.0% | 20.3% |
Computed from UAL's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 12, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
UAL valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), United Airlines traded at 10.9 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 10.5. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 9.0 and the forward P/E is 7.4. United Airlines earned a return on equity of 24.0% and a return on invested capital of 11.1% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $31.0 billion of debt and $12.2 billion in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $18.8 billion. It returned $637.0 million to shareholders: $0 in dividends and $637.0 million in share buybacks, 25% of free cash flow.
See the UAL income statement, the UAL chart for price history, or the UAL stock overview for the latest quote and news.
UAL key metrics FAQ
What is United Airlines's P/E ratio?
United Airlines's trailing P/E ratio is 9.0 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 7.4. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 10.9, compared with a 10-year median of 10.5.
What is United Airlines's EV/EBITDA?
United Airlines's enterprise value was 7.3 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $55.4 billion, EBITDA $7.5 billion); the current EV/EBITDA is 9.8.
What is United Airlines's return on equity?
United Airlines's return on equity (ROE) was 24.0% in fiscal 2025: net income of $3.4 billion on average shareholders' equity of $14.0 billion.
What is United Airlines's ROIC?
United Airlines's return on invested capital was 11.1% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does United Airlines have?
United Airlines had total debt of $31.0 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03 and $18.8 billion of net debt (2.49 times EBITDA).
Does United Airlines buy back its shares?
Yes. United Airlines spent $637.0 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −1.9% over the year, to 327.0M..
What is United Airlines's free cash flow yield?
United Airlines generated $2.6 billion of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 7.0% on its market value at year-end ($36.6 billion).
What is United Airlines's current ratio?
United Airlines's current ratio was 0.65 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 0.65 times current liabilities.