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Saia SAIA

Saia scores average on business quality (5.7 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.

Last price$336.75Oct 10, 2026
Business qualityAverage
Next earningsOct 29, 2026, before the open
Insiders, 90 daysQuiet

Why it matters

  1. What Saia does

    Saia operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier, moving regional and interregional freight for industrial and commercial shippers who pay by weight and distance.

  2. What it does best

    Saia generates a gross margin of 71.6%, easily besting peers like XPO at 60.2%. This edge stems from proprietary terminal routing efficiency and high customer density per lane.

  3. The main risk

    Surging capital expenditures for terminal network expansion continue to strain free cash flow generation, which swung violently from negative $460M in 2024 to $255M recently.

Quality, check by check

Scored against its own industry, from company filings.

ProfitabilityWeak

Operating margins sit at 11.1% with net margins at 8.2%, reflecting stable core operations despite heavy capex dilution on near-term cash returns.

MoatStrong

Saia holds a network-driven moat protecting its regional shipping lanes, ranking in the top decile for gross margins at 71.5% due to high terminal density.

GrowthSlow

Revenue growth crawls at a 0.8% annual clip, ranking in the bottom quartile of its sector at the 26th percentile as top-line momentum fades significantly.

Financial healthStrong

Debt is exceptionally light with total debt at $164M and interest coverage at 31x, making debt costs a rounding error while free cash flow recovers.

Insiders

Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.

No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

Our sealed record on SAIA

Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.

The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.

Questions

Is SAIA a good business?

Saia scores average on the Cluenex quality check (5.7 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat strong, growth slow and financial health strong.

Are insiders buying SAIA?

In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.

When does SAIA report earnings?

Oct 29, 2026, before the open.

For members

See SAIA today

  • Today's verdict on SAIA, and why
  • Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
  • The exact price that would change the verdict
  • Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
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Cite this page: Cluenex, “Saia (SAIA)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/saia/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.