Obermatt

Saia

NSQ:SAIA · US78709Y1055
Transportation InfrastructureLarge

360

94
EV / EBIT11
Price / Owner Earnings7
Owner Earnings Yield43
Dividend Yield1
Price/Sales18
EV / Gross Profit6
Price/Book24
Return on Capital84
Cash Return on Capital51
Return on Equity72
EBIT Margin53
Gross Profitability88
Cash Conversion67
Accruals67
Owner Earnings Margin51
Sales growth68
Profit Growth59
Long-Term EPS Growth72
Reinvestment11
Price momentum82
Debt load94
Refinancing55
Debt Payback75
Liquidity94
Analyst ratings32
Opinion Changes47
Price Target Upside23
Market mood55
Value Creation8/20creating some value
  • Creates more value than its capital costs
  • Owner earnings growing
  • Owner earnings per share growing
  • Reinvests at strong returns
  • Solid earnings base

What this means

Saia clears its cost of capital, but the record is mixed across the five tests. Real value creation, just not yet consistent.

Profile

CountryUSA
IndustryTransportation Infrastructure
SizeLarge
TypePublic Company
ExchangeNASDAQGS
Founded2000
Employees2,274
Websitesaia.com
ISINUS78709Y1055
Last UpdateApr 2, 2026
Themes
Freight ServiceLogisticsSupply Chain ManagementTransportation

Description

Saia, Inc., through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, is a transportation company. The company provides national less-than-truckload (LTL) services through a single integrated organization. While approximately 97% of the company’s revenue is derived fr…

Analysis

Hope premium

Saia, Inc. is priced well ahead of what the underlying numbers justify, a pattern we describe as a hope premium.

On valuation, the picture is expensive. The owner-earnings multiple stands at 170.1×; owner earnings: the cash an owner could take out each year. The implied growth embedded in that price is around 36% a year, against analyst forecasts of 9%. The market is pricing in far more than analysts expect: heroic expectations.

Growth is solid; the safety picture is sturdy. The company scores 8/20 on our value-creation score: creating some value.

No flags apply to this company at this time: accounts, balance sheet, and cash quality all pass. A clean bill of health is meaningful, not just the absence of a warning. This analysis describes numbers; it is not investment advice.

360° rank · history

1007550250
67
2023202420252026

All-time high

83

Jan 2024

All-time low

23

Jan 2025

Average rank

50

across all years

Detailed & Historical Ranks

Deep dive into 15 detailed ranks and 3 years of history.

Current202520242023
Price/Sales
18
11
15
23
Price/Earnings
10
12
14
19
Price/Book
24
24
25
19
Dividend Yield
1
1
1
1
Value (overall)
4
7
4
5

Cells are coloured by rank band (red weak → green strong). Sentiment & 360° history begins 2023.

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Make Sense of the Ranks

Every rank runs 1–100 against true peers. Higher is always better.

360° View
1 · Watch OutGood· 100
Value
1 · ExpensiveGood Value· 100
Quality
1 · Weak FundamentalsHigh Quality· 100
Growth
1 · Tough TimesHigh Growth· 100
Safety
1 · High LeverageWell-Financed· 100
Sentiment
1 · SkepticismPositive· 100
Learn More →