AAL · Industrials(air transportation, scheduled) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2025-12-31
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American Airlines Group Inc. reported revenue of $54.6 billion in fiscal 2025, after growing 3.5% a year over the previous 9 years. Its operating margin narrowed from 12.6% in 2016 to 2.7%, and it earned 3.5% on its invested capital in the latest year. Of the $25.8 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 129.6% went back into the business and 32.0% to buybacks; the share count rose 18.9%. On the accounting screens, it passes 5 of 8 Piotroski tests and its Altman Z'' of -1.56 is in the distress zone; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 202554.6B+3.5% a year over 9 years
Operating margin2.7%gross margin —
Return on invested capital3.5%3.7% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay-737.0M-1.3% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA7.4×net debt 27.2B
Piotroski F-score5/8tests of improvement passed
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
-20.0B020.0B40.0B60.0B
2016Revenue 40.1BOperating income 5.1B
2017Revenue 42.6BOperating income 4.2B
2018Revenue 44.5BOperating income 2.7B
2019Revenue 45.8BOperating income 3.1B
2020Revenue 17.3BOperating income -10.4B
2021Revenue 29.9BOperating income -1.1B
2022Revenue 49.0BOperating income 1.6B
2023Revenue 52.8BOperating income 3.0B
2024Revenue 54.2BOperating income 2.6B
2025Revenue 54.6BOperating income 1.5B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
+3.7%
+25.8%
+3.5%
Operating income
-3.0%
—
-12.9%
Net income
-4.4%
—
-29.5%
Earnings per share
-4.7%
—
-30.9%
Shares
+0.3%
+6.4%
+1.9%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 3.9%
-60.0%-40.0%-20.0%-0.0%20.0%
2016
2017Return on invested capital 6.8%
2018Return on invested capital 8.4%
2019Return on invested capital 9.7%
2020Return on invested capital -50.7%
2021Return on invested capital -4.3%
2022Return on invested capital 3.8%
2023Return on invested capital 8.2%
2024Return on invested capital 7.4%
2025Return on invested capital 3.5%
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Economic profit
Economic profit
-15.0B-10.0B-5.0B05.0B
2016
2017Economic profit 670.3M
2018Economic profit 1.1B
2019Economic profit 1.4B
2020Economic profit -13.7B
2021Economic profit -2.5B
2022Economic profit -50.6M
2023Economic profit 1.2B
2024Economic profit 897.3M
2025Economic profit -111.4M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
—
Return on assets
0.2%
Asset turnover
0.88×
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-10.0B-5.0B05.0B
2016Net income 2.6BFree cash flow 793.0MAfter stock-based pay 693.0M
2017Net income 1.3BFree cash flow -1.2BAfter stock-based pay -1.3B
2018Net income 1.4BFree cash flow -212.0MAfter stock-based pay -298.0M
2019Net income 1.7BFree cash flow -453.0MAfter stock-based pay -547.0M
2020Net income -8.9BFree cash flow -8.5BAfter stock-based pay -8.6B
2021Net income -2.0BFree cash flow 496.0MAfter stock-based pay 398.0M
2022Net income 127.0MFree cash flow -373.0MAfter stock-based pay -451.0M
2023Net income 822.0MFree cash flow 1.2BAfter stock-based pay 1.1B
2024Net income 846.0MFree cash flow 1.3BAfter stock-based pay 1.2B
2025Net income 111.0MFree cash flow -680.0MAfter stock-based pay -737.0M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2016–2025
25.8B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 130%33.5B
Acquisitions 0%0
Dividends 3%829.0M
Share buybacks 32%8.3B
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -65%-16.7B
Over the same years it paid 888.0M in stock. The share count rose 18.9%. 7.4B of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-20.00$-10.00$0.00$10.00
2016Earnings per share $4.65Free cash flow per share $1.43Dividend per share $0.40
2017Earnings per share $2.61Free cash flow per share $-2.50Dividend per share $0.40
2018Earnings per share $3.03Free cash flow per share $-0.46Dividend per share $0.40
2019Earnings per share $3.79Free cash flow per share $-1.02Dividend per share $0.40
2020Earnings per share $-18.36Free cash flow per share $-17.57Dividend per share $0.09
2021Earnings per share $-3.09Free cash flow per share $0.77Dividend per share $0.00
2022Earnings per share $0.19Free cash flow per share $-0.57Dividend per share $0.00
2023Earnings per share $1.14Free cash flow per share $1.68
2024Earnings per share $1.17Free cash flow per share $1.80
2025Earnings per share $0.17Free cash flow per share $-1.03
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
400.0M500.0M600.0M700.0M800.0M
2016Diluted shares 556.1M
2017Diluted shares 491.7M
2018Diluted shares 465.7M
2019Diluted shares 444.3M
2020Diluted shares 483.9M
2021Diluted shares 644.0M
2022Diluted shares 655.1M
2023Diluted shares 719.7M
2024Diluted shares 721.3M
2025Diluted shares 661.1M
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
010.0B20.0B30.0B40.0B
2016
2017Net debt 23.9B
2018Net debt 23.5B
2019Net debt 23.4B
2020Net debt 31.6B
2021Net debt 36.9B
2022Net debt 34.3B
2023Net debt 31.7B
2024Net debt 28.9B
2025Net debt 27.2B
2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
7.4×
Interest coverage
1× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
0.50 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
— collects in 14d
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
5of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✕Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellfailed
✕More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforefailed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✓Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforepassed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
-1.56distress zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets -0.20 × 6.56-1.30
Retained earnings ÷ assets -0.11 × 3.26-0.36
Operating income ÷ assets 0.02 × 6.72+0.16
Equity ÷ liabilities -0.06 × 1.05-0.06
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
The accounts lack too many of the lines it needs.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Net debt is 7.4 times EBITDA.
Benign
A stable sector with predictable cash flows and comfortable maturities.
Worrying
Little room if earnings fall; the maturity schedule is what to check.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
90% of the value comes from after year 10: this valuation rests mostly on the long run, which is exactly what is least known.
Value per share, with these assumptions$266.38discounted at 3.9% a year · 90% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
1586.4×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
55.4×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
3.7×
Free cash flow yield
-0.4%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today21.2B
Everything after, today182.1B
The whole business203.3B
Minus net debt-27.2B
What belongs to shareholders176.1B
Divided among 661.1M shares: <strong>$266.38</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
-10.0B-5.0B05.0B
2016Reported 693.0M
2017Reported -1.3B
2018Reported -298.0M
2019Reported -547.0M
2020Reported -8.6B
2021Reported 398.0M
2022Reported -451.0M
2023Reported 1.1B
2024Reported 1.2B
2025Reported -737.0M
2026Projected 1.3B
2027Projected 1.6B
2028Projected 2.0B
2029Projected 2.3B
2030Projected 2.6B
2031Projected 3.0B
2032Projected 3.3B
2033Projected 3.5B
2034Projected 3.7B
2035Projected 3.8B
2016201820202022202420262028203020322034
Year by year
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
Revenue
68.3B
83.7B
100.4B
118.0B
135.6B
152.6B
167.9B
180.5B
189.5B
194.2B
Growth
25.0%
22.5%
20.0%
17.5%
15.0%
12.5%
10.0%
7.5%
5.0%
2.5%
Cash margin
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
1.9%
Free cash flow
1.3B
1.6B
2.0B
2.3B
2.6B
3.0B
3.3B
3.5B
3.7B
3.8B
Worth today
1.3B
1.5B
1.7B
2.0B
2.2B
2.4B
2.5B
2.6B
2.6B
2.6B
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
2.9%
280
446
989
—
—
3.4%
195
274
436
968
—
3.9%
144
190
266
424
938
4.4%
111
141
186
261
417
4.9%
88
108
137
181
255
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
21.0%
23.0%
25.0%
27.0%
29.0%
1.6%
170
188
208
229
252
1.8%
194
215
237
261
286
1.9%
219
242
266
293
321
2.1%
244
269
296
325
356
2.3%
268
296
325
356
390
All the inputs moving at once
3,368 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$-80.42
Median$179.02
90th percentile$564.52
$0.00$500.00$1,000.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$38.81</b> and <b>$349.08</b>; one in ten below $-80.42, one in ten above $564.52.
Does the long run make sense?
20.6×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 20.6 times that year's EBITDA.
Free growthIn year 10 free cash flow is at or above after-tax operating profit, yet the model grows 2.5% forever. Growth needs reinvestment; this assumes it comes for free, which flatters the terminal value.
90%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 3 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market$3.5M7 sale(s) by 2 insider(s)
Under pre-arranged plans0%of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.