Start here if you're new
what it is
Ryanair sells no-frills plane tickets across Europe, then makes the math work better than most airlines.
how it gets paid
Last year Ryanair made $17.8B in revenue. Base fares was the main engine at $9.8B, or about 55% of sales.
what just happened
Ryanair reported ~$0.24 ADS EPS vs a scraped consensus near -$0.04—if those do not match your terminal, compare the same GAAP/adjusted line and fiscal quarter. Reported December-quarter profit fell ~22% to ~€115M on a reported basis.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
10/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
14.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
1.6% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
26.5% return on capital — every dollar works hard here
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Ryanair sells no-frills plane tickets across Europe, then makes the math work better than most airlines.
Ryanair wins on cost. You feel it every time the cheapest fare on your screen has its logo on it. The company flies 3,600 flights per day through 229+ airports and still posted a 24.0% operating margin, while long-term debt was just $173 million, or 0% of capital.
How they make money
$17.8B
annual revenue
Base fares
$9.8B
+8.5%
Bag fees and seat selection
$3.0B
+4.0%
Priority boarding and other add-ons
$1.5B
+4.0%
Onboard and partner revenue
$0.8B
+4.0%
Other ancillary & charter (stub)
$2.7B
—
The products that matter
sells low-fare flights
Passenger Air Travel
$17.8B annual revenue
it's the whole $17.8B business, and it still produced a 24.0% operating margin with a 15.0% net profit margin. That's why Ryanair gets treated more like a cost machine than a typical airline.
24.0% operating margin
Key numbers
$173M
long-term debt
Long-term debt → money owed for years → so what: Ryanair has just $173 million of it, or 0% of capital, which is absurdly low for an airline.
24.0%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the airline → so what: keeping 24 cents from each revenue dollar is rare in a business famous for eating cash.
26.5%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit on the money put into the business → so what: Ryanair turns planes, routes, and gates into cash better than most airlines.
14.0x
trailing p/e
P/E → price versus past earnings → so what: you are paying 14 times trailing earnings for a business with projected sales growth of 12.5%.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 45 / 100
- long-term debt $173M (0% of capital)
- net profit margin 15.0% — keeps 15 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 28% — $0.28 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in RYAAY 3 years ago → it's now worth $19,710.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
mixed · check ADS vs EUR quarter
~$0.24 ADS EPS vs a scraped -$0.04 consensus, alongside ~€115M reported Q3 net—verify the same adjusted/GAAP line. Reported profit fell ~22% vs. prior year partly on lapping Boeing compensation.
The quarter looked worse than the headline beat because reported earnings lapped prior Boeing compensation. Underneath that noise, unit costs held steady and fares rose 4% on strong holiday bookings.
$0.24
eps
€115M
q3 profit
+4%
fares
the number that mattered
The key number was the 8% to 9% full-year fare outlook because fare recovery, not accounting noise, drives the stock's upside case.
-
ryanair entered calendar 2026 in good form.profit in the year ahead should benefit as european travelers shift from expensive transatlantic trips to short-haul alternatives.
-
december-quarter earnings fell 22% to 115 million euros on a reported basis, but the decline reflects the absence of boeing delivery-delay compensation rather than operational weakness.
-
unit costs held steady, and fares rose 4% on strong close-in christmas and new year bookings.
-
management now expects full-year fares to rise 8% to 9%, more than recovering last year’s 7% decline, as industry capacity remains constrained by oem delivery delays and pratt & whitney engine repairs at airbus operators.the final four gamechanger aircraft will arrive by late february, allowing the company to lock in the summer schedule ahead of plan. a legal overhang cast a dark cloud over the shares, but the underlying cost position continues to improve. an 85 million euro provision represents roughly a third of the 256 million euros italian antitrust fine levied on christmas eve. the regulator alleges that ryanair’s policy of steering customers to book directly on its website, bypassing travel agents, constitutes an abuse of market power.
-
management and its lawyers are confident the penalty will be overturned on appeal, citing a january 2024 milan court ruling that found the direct-distribution model benefits consumers by lowering fares.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
The risk list starts in Italy. A €256M fine does not break a $17.8B revenue airline, but it does tell you regulators are looking at the exact part of the model investors usually treat as a strength.
med
italian antitrust action gets more expensive than the first fine
Public reporting says Italy's antitrust authority imposed a €256M fine on Jan 28, 2026. The first-order damage is the cash hit. The second-order damage is any forced change to how Ryanair sells and markets tickets.
Known exposure today: €256M. The bigger issue is whether this stays a penalty or becomes a rule change.
med
distribution disputes weaken direct control over the booking journey
The Dec 23, 2025 eDreams Odigeo update shows the fight is not over. When travel intermediaries and airlines are in court or before regulators, margin quality becomes less predictable.
This risk is hard to size from the page data. That uncertainty is the point: you are exposed to rule changes before you are given a clean model for them.
med
thin public detail around acquisitions leaves integration questions open
One public item references Ryanair acquiring 100% shareholding. The filing summary here is sparse, so you should not assume the deal is material or harmless.
When disclosure is thin, your job is simple: wait for detail. Deals rarely break the story alone, but ugly integration can chip away at a clean cost base.
The hard number is €256M. The harder question is whether regulators turn that into lasting pressure on the operating model.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
margin
24.0% operating margin
This is the number doing most of the valuation work. If the margin holds, 14.0x earnings looks restrained. If it slips, the discount makes sense.
regulation
the €256M antitrust fine in italy
Watch for appeals, remedies, and any sign the case expands from a cash penalty into a change in commercial practice.
estimates
the path from $17.8B to $22B revenue
The fy2029 estimate implies more scale. The market will care less about the headline and more about whether that growth keeps airline margins intact.
flow
institutional buying streak
Net buying for three straight quarters helps the tape. The next question is whether those buyers stay once the regulatory noise gets louder.
Analyst rankings
earnings predictability
10 / 100
in human-speak, analysts do not see this as a steady-eddy earnings story. You should expect more variance than the margin profile suggests.
balance sheet quality
B++
Above average finances with just $173M in long-term debt. That matters because airline trouble gets worse fast when debt is heavy. This one is not.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 221 buyers vs. 121 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$59
$120
$72
current price
$90
target midpoint · +25% from current · 3-5yr high: $105 (+45% · 12% ann'l return)
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