SAIA EV/EBITDA Analysis

EV/EBITDA measures a company’s total enterprise value—market cap plus debt minus cash—against its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, giving a rough price tag per unit of operating profit.

At 15.8x, SAIA trades above the sector median of 13.6x, placing it in the 60th percentile among peers, meaning it is richer than most comparable companies. The multiple is decreasing, down 18.6% year-over-year and 1.1% quarter-over-quarter, with the last eight quarters showing a clear downward path from 19.4x to 15.8x. That combination—still above median but steadily compressing—indicates the premium is shrinking, lowering valuation risk even without a drop in the underlying earnings measure. For an investor, this means the stock is no longer demanding the same high price for its profit stream, reducing the chance of a sharp de-rating. This supports the overall NEUTRAL verdict: the metric is neither cheap enough to call a bargain nor expensive enough to warrant avoidance, given the cooling trend.

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