Stocks · Industrials · Trucking
Saia, Inc. SAIA
$351.12 +1.96% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NASDAQ · Market cap $9.37B
High quality
Next earnings report: Oct 29, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The stock is in a downtrend: below its 200-day average, with the 50-day average below the 200-day.
- The shares trade at 33.9× trailing earnings, higher than 81% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $3.39B, up 4.8% from a year earlier, accelerating from 0.3% a quarter earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Industrials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 37%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 36%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 49%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 23%
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 33%
- Gross marginBottom 22%
- Operating marginTop 34%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 27%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 21%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 24%
- Interest coverTop 9%
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 45%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 45%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueTop 43%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 38%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 27%
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 45%
- 6-month returnBottom 46%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 39%
- Distance from 52-week highBottom 42%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Bottom 40%
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 40%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 45%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 48%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 49%
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Bottom 47%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsBottom 34%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Bottom 38%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 24%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 0.3% | 4.8% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -20.6% | -4.3% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 17.6% | 16.1% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 12.2% | 11.0% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | -3.5% | 7.5% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 4.8% | 0.3% | ↑ | Bottom 37% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -4.3% | -20.6% | ↑ | Bottom 36% |
| Gross margin | 16.1% | 17.6% | ↓ | Bottom 22% |
| Operating margin | 11.0% | 12.2% | ↓ | Top 34% |
| Net margin | 8.2% | 9.0% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.5% | -3.5% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 8.4% | — | Top 33% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 5.0% | — | Top 49% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.18×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -8.8%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +12.5 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 0.29×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 31.1×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 0.00%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.15%
- Shareholder yield
- 0.15%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.2%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.1%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 4 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +2.7%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -3.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 3 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $455.90
- Target vs current price
- +29.8%
- Analysts with a rating
- 32
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 59%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | +3.8% | -11.1% | -9.5% | -11.3% | — |
| Apr 30, 2026 | +2.2% | +6.3% | +6.5% | +11.2% | -0.5% |
| Feb 10, 2026 | -6.8% | -6.8% | -5.2% | -13.1% | +9.7% |
| Oct 30, 2025 | +11.5% | +2.2% | +2.0% | +0.8% | +26.2% |
| Jul 25, 2025 | +11.7% | +7.0% | -3.1% | -5.7% | -1.7% |
| Apr 25, 2025 | -32.9% | -30.7% | -32.2% | -24.3% | -14.1% |
| Feb 3, 2025 | -1.0% | -2.0% | +2.0% | -18.7% | -50.7% |
| Oct 25, 2024 | -2.0% | +11.4% | +17.9% | +32.5% | +21.0% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2026 | $3.51 | $3.38 | +3.8% | $956.5M |
| Apr 30, 2026 | $1.86 | $1.82 | +2.2% | $806.2M |
| Feb 10, 2026 | $1.77 | $1.90 | -6.8% | $790.0M |
| Oct 30, 2025 | $2.81 | $2.52 | +11.5% | $839.6M |
| Jul 25, 2025 | $2.67 | $2.39 | +11.7% | $817.1M |
| Apr 25, 2025 | $1.86 | $2.77 | -32.9% | $787.6M |
| Feb 3, 2025 | $2.84 | $2.87 | -1.0% | $789.0M |
| Oct 25, 2024 | $3.46 | $3.53 | -2.0% | $842.1M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 33.9× | 30.8× | 81th | Top 45% |
| P/E (forward) | 30.9× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.1× | — | — | Top 43% |
| EV / Sales | 2.82× | — | — | Bottom 38% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.73% | — | — | Bottom 45% |
| Earnings yield | 2.95% | — | — | Top 45% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 15.3× – 47.1× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +19.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -4.3%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +9.9%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✓ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✗ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✓ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- -8.4%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.1%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -1.6%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -9.7%
- RSI (14)
- 52.4
- Relative volume
- 1.18×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 45.0%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 35th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 1.19
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.34
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -27.9%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -60.9%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 2024 | Apr 29, 2025 | -60.9% | 287 days | Not yet recovered |
| Nov 17, 2021 | Jun 22, 2022 | -53.1% | 148 days | 267 days (Jul 17, 2023) |
| Sep 1, 2023 | Oct 27, 2023 | -21.5% | 39 days | 38 days (Dec 21, 2023) |
| May 7, 2021 | Jul 19, 2021 | -21.1% | 49 days | 17 days (Aug 11, 2021) |
| Jan 20, 2021 | Jan 27, 2021 | -13.0% | 5 days | 9 days (Feb 9, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $9.37B
- P/E (TTM)
- 33.9
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $10.36
- Revenue (TTM)
- $3.39B
- 52-week range
- $249.32 – $494.71
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.29B | $2.79B | $2.88B | $3.21B | $3.23B |
| Gross profit | $451.7M | $591.0M | $598.9M | $644.4M | $516.6M |
| Operating income | $335.1M | $470.5M | $460.5M | $482.2M | $352.2M |
| Net income | $253.2M | $357.4M | $354.9M | $362.1M | $255.0M |
| EPS (diluted) | $9.48 | $13.40 | $13.26 | $13.51 | $9.52 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $842.1M | $789.0M | $787.6M | $817.1M | $839.6M | $790.0M | $806.2M | $956.5M |
| Net income | $92.7M | $76.1M | $49.8M | $71.4M | $86.3M | $47.5M | $49.9M | $94.3M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.46 | $2.84 | $1.86 | $2.67 | $3.22 | $1.77 | $1.86 | $3.51 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $382.6M | $473.0M | $577.9M | $583.7M | $595.0M |
| Capital expenditure | -$285.7M | -$367.4M | -$439.9M | -$1.04B | -$567.6M |
| Free cash flow | $96.8M | $105.6M | $138.1M | -$459.9M | $27.3M |
| Dividends paid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net share buybacks | -$6.6M | -$11.8M | $4.9M | $2.6M | -$5.9M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $84.0M
- Total assets
- $3.72B
- Total liabilities
- $998.2M
- Total debt
- $269.2M
- Net debt
- $185.2M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $2.73B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Jul 30, 2026).
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 1,251,862
- Days to cover
- 3.51
- Change vs previous report
- -2.9%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jun 14, 2013
- 3-for-2