Verdict: Side-by-side breakdown using the Bull Rankings model. ZTO scored 64.9, UAL scored 60.9 — ZTO leads.
Compare another set
Different reporting periods. UAL's fundamentals are as of June 2026, but ZTO's are as of December 2025 — a 6-month gap. Growth, margin and valuation figures below therefore describe different windows and aren't strictly like-for-like.
ZTO
ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc.
Integrated Freight & Logistics · Quality-Growth
64.9
$20.15 · $15.1B
fundamentals as of
Score gap
4.0
ZTO 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 growthZTO+10.9%
Strongest balance sheetZTO0.35
Highest qualityZTO76 / 100
Largest discount to fair valueZTO-3%
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)
ZTO
stronger →← stronger
UAL
76
Qualityreturns · margins · balance sheet
59
80
Growthrevenue & earnings expansion
50
81
Valuevaluation vs sector peers
77
ZTO is stronger on 3 of 3 pillars.
Fundamentals, head-to-head
ZTO
UAL
$891mC+
FCF
$2.5bB
+10.9%B
Rev
+8.5%B
0.35A-
D/E
2.02C
11.0xA
P/E
10.1xA
1.01B+
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
ZTO
UAL
3% below
Price vs fair valuelower is cheaper
0% above
~7%/yr
Growth the price impliesyr-1 FCF growth, fading to 4% · lower = less priced in
~7%/yr
-6%
1-yr DCF upside
-8%
+3%
5-yr DCF upside
0%
+18%
10-yr DCF upside
+11%
The DCF is a cross-check on intrinsic value, separate from the quality-growth score above.
Integrated Freight & Logistics · market cap $15.1b. Down 23% from 52-week high of $26.20 — deep drawdown territory. Revenue growing +11%, comfortably above the S&P median. 18 sell-side analysts rate this a Buy with a mean 1-yr target of $27.88 (implying +38% upside).
Moat
Net margin 18% beats the market median by a meaningful margin — the company is keeping more of every revenue dollar than the average S&P constituent. ROE 14% meets the long-run market sustainable threshold — solid but not differentiated; the durability comes from elsewhere.
Risk
Value re-rating depends on a catalyst. Without one — analyst day, divestiture, margin recovery, capital return — the stock can stay cheap on these multiples for years.
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 ZTO and UAL diverge
On the headline score the gap is 4.0 points in favor of ZTO. The widest single difference is Growth, where ZTO leads by 29.8 points.
GrowthZTO 79.8 · UAL 50.0ZTO +29.8
QualityZTO 76.3 · UAL 59.0ZTO +17.3
ValueZTO 81.3 · UAL 76.7ZTO +4.6
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 ZTO or UAL the better stock?
ZTO scores higher: ZTO 64.9, UAL 60.9 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 ZTO and UAL differ most?
The widest gap is growth, where ZTO leads by 30 points on the 0–100 pillar scale. ZTO leads all three pillars, so the gap is broad rather than a single-measure difference.
How are ZTO and UAL 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.