At a glance
SkyWest Inc is worth $3.62B, about 9 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 15.0% to $4.06B in fiscal 2025, with 10.6% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 13.8% a year. It pays no dividend. The stock returned −3.4% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +15.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 78.8% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 62.2% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 11 months and 9 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
SkyWest runs the largest regional airline operation in the United States. It flies smaller jets on shorter routes for four major airlines under code-share agreements. These agreements let it fly under a partner's name and flight codes. As of December 31, 2025, it offered about 2,260 daily departures: roughly 940 as United Express, 680 as Delta Connection, 420 as American Eagle and 210 as Alaska Airlines. Of its 637 aircraft, 487 were in scheduled service or under contract.
Most revenue comes from long-term, fixed-fee contracts called capacity purchase agreements. The partner sells the tickets and pays SkyWest set rates based on completed flights, flight time and aircraft under contract. It also pays for or reimburses costs such as fuel. In fiscal 2025, flight fees under these contracts made up about 64% of revenue, and aircraft-lease fees another 11%. Prorate agreements added 15%. Under these, SkyWest keeps a share of ticket revenue and carries more fare and fuel risk.
By segment, SkyWest Airlines produced 84.2% of fiscal 2025 revenue of about $4.06 billion, and SkyWest Leasing produced 15.8%. The leasing segment records the revenue and costs of its debt-financed Embraer E175 jets. It also leases aircraft and engines to other operators, including 40 CRJ700s and five CRJ900s. A small charter arm, SkyWest Charter, had 11 jets for on-demand flights as of December 31, 2025.
Price history
The interactive chart needs JavaScript.
SKYW -3.4% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By product or service
| Capacity Purchase Agreements Flight Operations Revenue Non Lease Component | $2.59B | 63.8% |
| Prorate Agreements | $610.4M | 15% |
| Capacity Purchase Agreements Fixed Aircraft Lease Revenue | $441.3M | 10.9% |
| Lease Airport Services And Other | $173.0M | 4.3% |
| Lease Airport Service And Other | $173.0M | 4.3% |
| Airport Customer Service And Other Revenue | $74.2M | 1.8% |
By business segment
| Sky West Airlines | $3.42B | 84.2% |
| Skywest Leasing | $643.1M | 15.8% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $1.12B, up 6.4% from a year earlier, and net income was $119.5M (+2.7%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $4.06B (+15.0% year over year; +13.8% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 10.6% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +13.8% good |
|---|---|
| Operating margin | 15.2% good |
| Free cash flow margin | 22.4% good |
| Return on equity (FY2025) | 15.6% good |
| Return on assets (FY2025) | 5.8% watch |
| Net cash (cash minus debt) | $-1.80B weak |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $2.13B | $-8.5M | $620.9M |
| FY2021 | $2.71B | $111.9M | $813.7M |
| FY2022 | $3.00B | $73.0M | $467.3M |
| FY2023 | $2.94B | $34.3M | $723.1M |
| FY2024 | $3.53B | $323.0M | $647.6M |
| FY2025 | $4.06B | $428.3M | $908.3M |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.62B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 9.2 |
| Dividend yield | 0% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
SkyWest’s market value went from $1.89B at the end of 2016 to $3.62B on Oct 28, 2026, up 92%; since the end of 2025 it is down 10%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.62B | -10.0% |
| 2025 | $4.03B | -0.3% |
| 2024 | $4.04B | +88.9% |
| 2023 | $2.14B | +155.8% |
| 2022 | $835.4M | -57.8% |
| 2021 | $1.98B | -2.0% |
| 2020 | $2.02B | -38.0% |
| 2019 | $3.26B | +41.2% |
| 2018 | $2.31B | -16.2% |
| 2017 | $2.75B | +46.0% |
| 2016 | $1.89B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SKYW price data to Oct 28, 2026 | -5.1% | -3.4% | +31.1% | +15.7% | +12.8% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | -5.1% |
| 2025 | +0.3% |
| 2024 | +91.8% |
| 2023 | +216.2% |
| 2022 | -58.0% |
| 2021 | -2.5% |
| 2020 | -37.3% |
| 2019 | +46.5% |
| 2018 | -15.6% |
| 2017 | +46.8% |
| 2016 | +93.3% |
| 2015 | +44.6% |
| 2014 | -8.9% |
| 2013 | +20.4% |
| 2012 | +0.3% |
| 2011 | -18.4% |
| 2010 | -6.6% |
| 2009 | -8.0% |
| 2008 | -30.2% |
| 2007 | +5.7% |
| 2006 | -4.6% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 67% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 71.5%, back to its old high 87.8 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 63.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 78.8%, back to its old high 11.2 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 56.5% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 62.2%, back to its old high 9.4 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 12 sales ($15.8M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2026 | Russell A Childs PRESIDENT & CEO, Director | sell | $4.1M |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Wade J Steel CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER | sell | $2.5M |
| Feb 24, 2026 | Wade J Steel CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER | sell | $2.2M |
| Jul 30, 2026 | Greg Wooley EXEC VP OPERATIONS | sell | $1.9M |
| Jul 29, 2026 | Robert J Simmons CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | sell | $1.6M |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| BlackRock, Inc. | 14.5% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 7.54% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Dimensional Fund Advisors LP | 6.7% | Mar 31, 2025 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.08% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in SKYW
| AIRL Themes Airlines ETF | 4.03% |
| JETS U.S. Global Jets ETF | 3.47% |
| XTN SPDR S&P Transportation ETF | 2.96% |
| PEJ Invesco Leisure and Entertainment ETF | 2.82% |
| XSMO Invesco S&P SmallCap Momentum ETF | 1.63% |
| SYLD Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF | 1.25% |
| AFSM First Trust Active Factor Small Cap ETF | 0.99% |
| MYLD Cambria Micro and SmallCap Shareholder Yield ETF | 0.99% |
What could go wrong
- Business rests on four airline partners. Substantially all flights are flown for United, Delta, American or Alaska. Losing a contract, or a partner winning lower rates at renewal, could cut revenue sharply and be hard to replace.
- Partners can cut flights or rates. Contracts pay by completed flights, flight time and aircraft under contract. If partners face weak demand, low fares, high fuel prices or financial strain, they may cut scheduled flights or push for lower rates.
- Scope limits cap jet size and growth. Major airlines' contracts with their own labor groups, called scope limitations, restrict the number and type of regional jets they use. SkyWest flies no jet above 76 seats, and these rules can restrict growth.
- Pilot shortages and rising labor costs. Major airlines recruit regional captains. Heavy attrition in 2022 and 2023 kept SkyWest from flying its partners' full schedules. Rising pilot and other labor costs can also squeeze margins under fixed-fee contracts.
- Few suppliers for jets and parts. SkyWest depends on two aircraft makers, Embraer and MHI RJ (formerly Bombardier), and one engine maker. Suppliers have been slow with spare parts, which can delay maintenance and returning stored CRJ jets to service.
- Heavy debt to fund the fleet. As of June 30, 2026, debt was about $2.3 billion against $601 million of cash and investments, and SkyWest expects to borrow more for new aircraft. Owned jets may also lose value faster than planned.
Recent events
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Shareholder vote results
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
SkyWest paid no dividend as of October 28, 2026. Its last dividend was $0.14 per share in fiscal 2020. It paid none from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025, even though free cash flow (cash left after capital spending) reached $908 million in fiscal 2025. The 10-K says the company cannot assure it will resume dividends or continue stock repurchases. Shares outstanding fell about 23%, from 50.4 million in July 2021 to 38.8 million in July 2026. For an income investor, the only way to draw cash from this stock is to reduce the holding.
The share price has fallen hard in past downturns. It dropped about 72% between November 2007 and March 2009 and took about 88 months to regain its earlier high. It fell about 79% in the 2020 COVID crash and recovered in about 11 months. It fell about 62% in the 2022 bear market and recovered in about 9 months. Single stocks carry more risk than diversified funds.
Questions investors ask
How does SkyWest make money?
SkyWest earns most of its money flying regional jets for United, Delta, American and Alaska under long-term, fixed-fee contracts called capacity purchase agreements. The partner pays set rates for completed flights, flight time and aircraft under contract, and pays for or reimburses fuel. In fiscal 2025, flight fees under these contracts were about 64% of its $4.06 billion revenue, and aircraft-lease fees were about 11%. Prorate agreements, which pay SkyWest a share of ticket revenue, added 15%. Leasing jets and engines to other operators adds more.
Does SkyWest pay a dividend?
No. SkyWest paid no dividend as of October 28, 2026. Its last dividend was $0.14 per share in fiscal 2020, and it paid none from fiscal 2021 through fiscal 2025. Its 10-K says it cannot assure that dividends will resume or that stock repurchases will continue. Shares outstanding fell about 23% between July 2021 and July 2026, from 50.4 million to 38.8 million. Without a dividend, shareholder returns depend entirely on the share price.
Which airlines does SkyWest fly for?
SkyWest flies for United, Delta, American and Alaska. As of December 31, 2025, it ran about 2,260 daily departures: roughly 940 as United Express, 680 as Delta Connection, 420 as American Eagle and 210 as Alaska Airlines. United also had the most aircraft, 216 of the 487 in scheduled service or under contract. Delta followed with 137, American with 92 and Alaska with 42. The 10-K flags this reliance on four partners as a risk.
What is SkyWest's P/E ratio?
About 9.2 as of October 28, 2026, based on fiscal 2025 earnings of $10.35 per diluted share. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio compares the share price with yearly profit per share. A low figure can mean investors expect weaker or less certain profits ahead. Market value was about $3.7 billion. In the quarter ended June 30, 2026, revenue rose 6.5% from a year earlier, while net income fell 16.3%. Debt was about $2.3 billion on that date.
How volatile is SkyWest stock?
Quite volatile. The share price fell about 79% in the 2020 COVID crash and about 62% in the 2022 bear market. Its largest drop in about 21 years of price history was about 82%. Yearly swings have been wide: down 58% in 2022, then up 216% in 2023 and 92% in 2024. Over the 10 years to October 28, 2026, the price rose about 12.8% a year. Its one-year beta was 1.27, meaning it tended to swing more than the broad market.