One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$-39.59 our estimate vs market $149.21
Wall Street consensus: $179.30 (-552.9% lower than our fair-value estimate)
477% below our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
AerCap Holdings N.V.
AER · NYQ · Industrials · Rental & Leasing Services
Current price
$149.21
52-week range
$118.96 - $158.81
Market cap
$23.45B
Balance sheet
Distressed
2.19x Stretched
Net debt $41.11B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
2 Risks
3 rewards · 2 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 6.5% last year.
- Reward Returns 18.7% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
- Risk Forward P/E (8.2x) is higher than trailing (7.3x) - earnings are expected to drop.
- Risk Stock trades 4.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
What this company does
AerCap Holdings N.V.
AerCap is like a giant landlord for the airline industry, making its money by leasing airplanes and engines to airlines all over the world. The company profits from these long-term rental agreements, which provides predictable, recurring revenue (income that comes in regularly, like a subscription). This is an important business because many airlines prefer leasing over the massive upfront cost of buying planes, making AerCap a key player in keeping the global airline industry flying.
How the company got here
AerCap's story is one of strategic growth, becoming the world's largest aircraft leasing company through a series of major acquisitions. It started in 1995 as debis AirFinance and went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006. Key turning points include buying Genesis Lease in 2009, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) from AIG in 2014, and its largest competitor, GECAS, from General Electric in 2021 for over $30 billion. These deals transformed AerCap into an industry giant, managing a massive and modern fleet of aircraft.
What it actually does
Think of AerCap as a giant landlord for the skies. Instead of apartments, it owns thousands of airplanes, engines, and helicopters that it rents out to airlines and other aviation companies around the world. This service, called leasing, allows airlines to operate a fleet of aircraft without the massive upfront cost of buying them directly from manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. AerCap handles everything from purchasing new aircraft to managing them throughout their lifespan, including leasing, maintenance oversight, and eventually selling them.
Aircraft Leasing
This is AerCap's main business, making up the vast majority of its revenue. The company buys new and used commercial airplanes, from small narrow-body jets to large wide-body aircraft, and leases them to hundreds of airlines globally. Airlines pay AerCap regular rent to use these planes, which is more flexible and requires less cash than buying aircraft outright. AerCap's customers range from major international carriers like American Airlines and China Southern Airlines to smaller regional airlines.
Engine Leasing
Airlines often need spare engines when their own are undergoing maintenance or repair. AerCap owns and manages a large pool of aircraft engines that it leases out to airlines and maintenance providers. This is a crucial service that helps keep airline fleets flying without disruption. This part of the business has become increasingly important as demand for engine maintenance has grown.
Helicopter Leasing
Through its subsidiary, Milestone Aviation Group, AerCap is also a leading player in leasing helicopters. These aren't the small helicopters you might see on a city tour; they are specialized aircraft used for critical services. Customers in this segment include companies in the offshore oil and gas industry, search and rescue operations, and emergency medical services.
Asset Management and Sales
Beyond just leasing, AerCap also acts as a manager for aircraft portfolios owned by other investors, providing services like collecting rent, monitoring maintenance, and remarketing the aircraft. The company also actively sells aircraft from its own fleet, a process known as 'capital recycling'. This allows AerCap to manage the age of its fleet, generate gains on sales, and reinvest the money into newer, more in-demand aircraft.
What management is betting on now
AerCap's current strategy focuses on owning the most modern, fuel-efficient aircraft that airlines are eager to fly. The company is investing heavily in new-technology planes to meet the demand for lower fuel consumption and more environmentally friendly options. Management is also focused on disciplined capital allocation (carefully deciding where to invest money), which includes buying back its own shares and actively managing its portfolio by selling older planes when market prices are favorable. They are also capitalizing on the high demand for spare engines, which has become a significant and profitable part of their business.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
Revenue
$8.52B
Net income
$3.75B
Diluted EPS
21.30
Operating cash flow
$5.39B
Free cash flow
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Sources
Revenue
$8.00B
Net income
$2.10B
Diluted EPS
10.79
Operating cash flow
$5.44B
Free cash flow
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Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $-39.59 vs current price $149.21
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $179.30 (-552.9% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $-39.59 a share — about 126.5% below today's price of $149.21, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $41.1B. Interest coverage 2.2x.
Net debt
$41.11B
Interest coverage
2.19x
AerCap Holdings N.V.'s profit covers its interest bill about 2.2 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
AER
BASELINE
AerCap Holdings N.V.
Total debt $42.83B Interest coverage 2.19x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $12.48B Interest coverage 1.36x -38% vs AER Carries about 1.6x less debt cushion than AER.
Total debt $15.38B Interest coverage 5.55x +153% vs AER Carries about 2.5x more debt cushion than AER.
Total debt $8.45B Interest coverage 2.74x +25% vs AER Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than AER.
Total debt $9.56B Interest coverage 1.50x -32% vs AER Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than AER.
What you should know
The case for and against AER
3 Rewards
2 Risks
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 6.5% last year.
-
Returns 18.7% on equity, ahead of 60% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
Risks
-
Forward P/E (8.2x) is higher than trailing (7.3x) - earnings are expected to drop.
-
Stock trades 4.7% above its 5-year average P/E.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
7.33x
Forward P/E
8.19x
P/B
1.25x
P/S
2.62x
EV/EBITDA
12.46x
PEG ratio
0.80x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
62.8%
Operating margin
57.5%
Net margin
37.9%
ROE
18.7%
ROA
4.4%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
2.33x
Current ratio
1.30x
Quick ratio
1.03x
Total debt
$42.83B
Total cash
$1.72B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$31.11B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
13.0%
EPS TTM
20.35
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$21.26B
Free CF TTM
$-681.17M
FCF margin
-2.2%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
1.1%
Payout ratio
6.6%
Last ex-div date
2026-08-12