Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. DAL scored 58.4, UAL scored 60.9 — UAL leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. DAL's fundamentals are as of September 2026, but UAL's are as of June 2026 — a 3-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
DAL
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Airlines · Quality-Growth
58.4
$82.17 · $54.0B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
2.5
UAL leads
UAL
United Airlines Holdings, Inc.
Airlines · Quality-Growth
60.9
$107.45 · $34.9B
fundamentals as of
At a glance · who leads each dimension, on the model's own rules
CheapestUAL10.1x
Fastest growthDAL+14.1%
Strongest balance sheetDAL0.97
Highest qualityDAL64 / 100
Side by side · every name on one set of axes
Growth against the P/E multiple. Up and to the right is cheaper and faster — the quality-growth idea in one picture. Points beyond the axis are pinned to the edge and marked off-scale rather than allowed to compress everything else.
The model, pillar by pillar (0–100 each)
DAL
stronger →← stronger
UAL
64
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
59
50
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
50
62
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
77
DAL and UAL split the three pillars evenly.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
DAL
UAL
$3.5bB
FCF
$2.5bB
+14.1%B+
Rev
+8.5%B
0.97C+
D/E
2.02C
13.6xA-
P/E
10.1xA
0.21A
PEG
6.50D
Winner per row is the stronger grade; where grades tie, the better figure breaks it. A true tie or a missing value shows no highlight.
Valuation · DCF cross-check
DAL
UAL
4% above
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
0% above
~11%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-16%
1-yr DCF upside
-8%
-4%
5-yr DCF upside
0%
+15%
10-yr DCF upside
+11%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Model signals
DAL
Why this score
Raising its dividend
Durable high returns
Cyclical growth
UAL
Why this score
Cyclical growth
The companies
DALDelta Air Lines, Inc.
Airlines · $82.17 · beta 1.34
Why now
Airlines · market cap $54.0b. 14% off the 52-week high of $95.68. Revenue growing +14%, comfortably above the S&P median. PEG 0.21 — paying under fair value for the growth rate. 24 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $101.48 (implying +23% upside).
Moat
ROE 15% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere. FCF converts 107% of net income — earnings translate cleanly into cash. $54.0b market cap gives the company enough scale to absorb fixed costs that subscale competitors can't, without yet being so large that growth has to come from acquisition.
Risk
Net margin 4.6% is thin — operating leverage cuts both ways; input-cost inflation or pricing pressure hits the bottom line first.
UALUnited Airlines Holdings, Inc.
Airlines · $107.45 · beta 1.30
Why now
Airlines · market cap $34.9b. Down 23% from 52-week high of $138.77 — deep drawdown territory. 23 sell-side analysts rate this a Strong Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $152.78 (implying +42% upside).
Moat
ROE 21% is above 15% — the equity base is compounding at a rate the market struggles to discount accurately.
Risk
D/E 2.02 is elevated — limits strategic flexibility and raises refinancing exposure if rates stay higher for longer.
Verdict — model-derived comparison
Generating verdict… typically 5–10 seconds
Not investment advice. The Bull Rankings publishes a quantitative ranking model and accompanying analysis for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security; nothing is personalized to your circumstances, risk tolerance, or tax situation. Investing carries the risk of loss — invest at your own risk and consider consulting a licensed financial professional before acting on anything you read here. See terms and methodology for full disclosures.
Where DAL and UAL diverge
On the headline score the gap is 2.5 points in favor of UAL. They get there differently, though — each leads on a different pillar, so the better pick depends on which you weight.
ValueDAL 62.0 · UAL 76.7UAL +14.7
QualityDAL 64.3 · UAL 59.0DAL +5.3
GrowthDAL 50.0 · UAL 50.0level
Pillars run 0–100. Value is judged against each company's own sector, so a Value score is a statement about a company relative to its own industry rather than to the other name here. A wide Value gap usually means the market already prices the difference in quality or growth — which is the trade-off this comparison comes down to.
Common questions
Is UAL or DAL the better stock?
UAL scores higher: UAL 60.9, DAL 58.4 out of 100 on the Bull Rankings quality-growth score, which blends business quality, growth and valuation into one number. A higher score means a stronger business at a more reasonable price — it is not a price target or a recommendation.
Where do UAL and DAL differ most?
The widest gap is value, where UAL leads by 15 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. Neither name sweeps: they trade the lead across the three pillars, so the comparison is a trade-off rather than one being better on every measure.
How are UAL and DAL scored?
Each carries the same 0–100 quality-growth score used everywhere on the site, built from three pillars — quality (profitability and returns on capital), growth (revenue and earnings), and value (what you pay for them) — combined as a geometric mean, so a weak pillar cannot be papered over by a strong one.
How current is this comparison?
The whole universe is re-scored every trading day after the US market close, so the scores and fundamentals here reflect the latest published edition.