6 Reasons Why You Should Add Ryanair Stock to Your Portfolio

Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) is benefiting from the improvement in traffic from the pandemic-led slump. Measures to expand its fleet and bring down debt levels are encouraging, too.

Against this backdrop, let’s look at the factors that make this stock an attractive pick.

What Makes RYAAY an Attractive Pick?

An Outperformer: A glimpse at the company’s price trend reveals that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourse over the past year. Shares of RYAAY have gained 60.9% over the past year, outperforming the 14.7% increase of the Zacks Airline industry.

RYAAY Stock One-Year Price Comparison

Solid Rank & VGM Score: RYAAY has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2, offer the best investment opportunities. Thus, the company seems to be an appropriate investment proposition at the moment.

Northward Estimate Revisions:The direction of estimate revisions serves as an important pointer when it comes to the price of a stock. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2025 earnings has moved 33.33% north in the past 60 days. For 2025 and 2026, the consensus mark for earnings has been revised to 2.54% and 2.81% upward in the same time frame, respectively. The favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: RYAAY has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, delivering an average beat of 63.03%.

Earnings Expectations: Earnings growth and stock price gains often indicate a company’s prospects. For 2025 and 2026, RYAAY’s earnings are expected to improve 55.13% and 13.58% year over year, respectively.

Growth Factors: RYAAY's top line continues to benefit from the resurgent travel scenario. The carrier carried more than 200 million passengers in its fiscal year ending March 2025, becoming the first European carrier to do so in a year.  During the first half of fiscal 2026, RYAAY’s traffic grew 3% year over year to 119 million passengers. Given the aforesaid encouraging backdrops, Ryanair has unveiled its raised traffic outlook for fiscal 2026 (concurrent with its second-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release on Nov. 3, 2025). Ryanair now expects its fiscal 2026 traffic to grow by more than 3% to 207 million passengers (prior view: 206 million), owing to earlier than expected Boeing BA deliveries and solid demand during the first half of fiscal 2026.

RYAAY’s measures to expand its fleet, to cater to the rising travel demand, look encouraging. The inclusion of modern planes in its fleet and the retirement of the old ones align with its environmentally-friendly approach.

RYAAY has a solid balance sheet. The low-cost carrier ended second-quarter fiscal 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $3.58 billion, much higher than the current debt level of $1.40 billion. This implies that the company has sufficient cash to meet its current debt obligations. RYAAY's efforts to repay its debts are encouraging, too. As of Sept. 30, 2025, RYAAY made €1.2 billion in debt repayments. A solid balance sheet allows RYAAY to reward its shareholders in the form of share buybacks and dividend payments.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Transportation sector may also consider LATAM Airlines Group LTM and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD).

LTM presently sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

LTM has an expected earnings growth rate of 52.63% for the current year. The company has a solid earnings surprise history. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, and met in the remaining one, delivering an average beat of 29.84%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LTM’s 2025 earnings has moved 5.34% north in the past 60 days. LTM shares gained 32.5% in the past six months.

EXPD presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. Expeditors has an expected earnings growth rate of 3.50% for the current year. The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 13.94%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPD’s 2025 earnings has moved 7.63% north in the past 60 days. Shares of Expeditors have gained 30.7% over the past six months.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research