United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service's revenue fell 2.6% to $88.7 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 8.9%, down from 9.3% a year earlier. Free cash flow was $4.8 billion, down 23.3%. It paid out $6.4 billion in dividends and buybacks, 134% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 0.7%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What United Parcel Service does
UPS picks up and delivers packages for businesses and consumers in more than 200 countries and territories, using one network of planes, trucks and sorting hubs. It also moves freight by air and sea, runs warehouses, handles customs paperwork and sells shipping insurance. In 2025 it delivered an average of 20.8 million packages a day, and its total revenue was $88.7 billion.
It reports two package segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package, and groups its freight forwarding, logistics and digital businesses as Supply Chain Solutions. Its largest customer, Amazon, made up about 10.6% of 2025 revenue, almost all in the U.S. package business, and UPS plans to cut the volume it handles for Amazon by more than 50% by June 2026 from 2024 levels. UPS is expanding in health care shipping and says that business brought in more than $11 billion in 2025. It competes with local, regional, national and international delivery and logistics firms, and with national postal services.
UPS has about 460,000 employees, not counting seasonal workers, with 370,000 in the U.S. Nearly 80% of its U.S. employees belong to unions, many of them under contracts with the Teamsters. In 2025 it bought two health care logistics firms, Frigo-Trans and Andlauer Healthcare Group, to add cold-storage shipping.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Losing business from its large customers, including the planned drop in volume from its largest one, Amazon.
- Strikes, work stoppages or slowdowns by its largely unionized workforce.
- Fierce competition in a delivery industry that keeps changing quickly.
- Rising or unstable prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and interruptions in their supply.
- High and rising costs for employee health care and pensions.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share grew 6.1% a year and net income 5.6% a year, as buybacks cut the share count by 4%.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value United Parcel Service yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from United Parcel Service's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from United Parcel Service's fiscal 2025 free cash flow of $4.8B, net cash of −$18.5B at December 31, 2025 and 850 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to United Parcel Service: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, -4.0% a year, kept between 0% and 20%; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 10%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Air Freight & Logistics), plus 1 point for unsteady results (revenue fell in two of the last five years); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $100.32
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from United Parcel Service's earnings per share of $5.38 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 26.7×, the middle of United Parcel Service's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (the Industrials median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 11%, 10% and 9%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $100.32
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- United Parcel Service's P/E at the last close
- 18.6×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| GXO LogisticsGXO | $49.31 | $1.13 | 43.6× |
| Expeditors InternationalEXPD | $196.43 | $6.87 | 28.6× |
| C.H. RobinsonCHRW | $140.15 | $5.24 | 26.7× |
| United Parcel ServiceUPS | $100.32 | $5.38 | 18.6× |
| FedExFDX | $300.58 | $18.55 | 16.2× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 10.6 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 5.9 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 22.1 | 19.8 | 22.5 | 21.5 | 24.4 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | 11.5 | 12.2 | 16.4 | 15.2 | 18.5 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 0.7x | 0.8x | 1.4x | 1.3x | 1.7x |
| Debt to equity | 1.6x | 1.0x | 1.3x | 1.3x | 1.5x |
| Interest coverage | 18.5x | 18.6x | 11.6x | 9.8x | 7.7x |
| Current ratio | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.1x | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Quick ratio | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.1x | 1.1x | 1.2x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, no insider bought United Parcel Service shares on the open market, and 1 insider sold $2.7 million.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 28, 2026 | Norman M. Brothers JrChief Legal & Compliance Off | Sold | 25,014 | $106.15 | $2.7 million | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| Current ratio rose | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Share count didn't rise | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 4 of 8 | 7 of 8 | 5 of 8 |
| Accruals ratio | −5.0% | −6.2% | −4.0% |
Compare
Put United Parcel Service side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Parcel Service | FY25 | −2.6% | 8.9% | 5.4% | 18.4% | 1.7x | 5 | |
| FedEx | FY26 | 7.7% | 5.8% | 5.4% | 9.3% | 1.4x | 7 | Compare |
| C.H. Robinson | FY25 | −8.4% | 4.9% | 5.5% | 22.6% | 1.0x | 6 | Compare |
| GXO Logistics | FY25 | 12.6% | 1.9% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 3.1x | 5 | Compare |
| Expeditors International | FY25 | 4.4% | 9.5% | 8.6% | — | — | — | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | 60.9 | 65.9 | 71.9 | 74.1 | 84.6 | 97.3 | 100.3 | 91.0 | 91.1 | 88.7 |
| Revenue growth | 4.4% | 8.2% | 9.1% | 3.1% | 14.2% | 15.0% | 3.1% | −9.3% | 0.1% | −2.6% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 7.7 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 7.7 | 12.8 | 13.1 | 9.1 | 8.5 | 7.9 |
| Net income | 3.4 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 1.3 | 12.9 | 11.5 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 5.6 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 3.86 | 5.61 | 5.51 | 5.11 | 1.54 | 14.68 | 13.20 | 7.80 | 6.75 | 6.56 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 887 | 875 | 870 | 869 | 871 | 878 | 875 | 860 | 856 | 850 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 6.5 | 1.5 | 12.7 | 8.6 | 10.5 | 15.0 | 14.1 | 10.2 | 10.1 | 8.4 |
| Capital expenditure | 3.0 | 5.2 | 6.3 | 6.4 | 5.4 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Free cash flow | 3.5 | −3.7 | 6.4 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 10.8 | 9.3 | 5.1 | 6.2 | 4.8 |
| Dividends paid | 2.6 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 |
| Share buybacks | 2.7 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 |
| Acquisitions | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 2.0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 4.6 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 5.7 | 6.3 | 10.6 | 7.6 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 5.9 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 15.6 | 23.9 | 22.3 | 25.4 | 24.8 | 22.1 | 19.8 | 22.5 | 21.5 | 24.4 |
| Total assets | 40.5 | 45.6 | 50.0 | 57.9 | 62.4 | 69.4 | 71.1 | 70.9 | 70.1 | 73.1 |
| Total liabilities | 39.9 | 44.5 | 47.0 | 54.6 | 61.7 | 55.1 | 51.3 | 53.5 | 53.3 | 56.8 |
| Shareholders' equity | 0.4 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 14.3 | 19.8 | 17.3 | 16.7 | 16.2 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 12.6% | 11.4% | 9.8% | 10.5% | 9.1% | 13.2% | 13.1% | 10.1% | 9.3% | 8.9% |
| Net margin | 5.6% | 7.5% | 6.7% | 6.0% | 1.6% | 13.2% | 11.5% | 7.4% | 6.3% | 6.3% |
| Free cash flow margin | 5.8% | −5.7% | 8.9% | 3.0% | 6.0% | 11.1% | 9.3% | 5.6% | 6.8% | 5.4% |
| Return on capital | 44.9% | 32.1% | 27.1% | 28.3% | 26.6% | 44.3% | 35.3% | 21.8% | 20.1% | 18.4% |
| Return on equity | — | — | — | 141.2% | — | 172.9% | 67.8% | 36.2% | 34.0% | 33.8% |
| Return on assets | 8.7% | 11.4% | 10.0% | 8.2% | 2.2% | 19.6% | 16.4% | 9.4% | 8.2% | 7.8% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | 1.1x | 2.0x | 1.9x | 1.9x | 1.8x | 0.7x | 0.8x | 1.4x | 1.3x | 1.7x |