Saia, Inc. (SAIA) Stock Price & How to Invest

Saia, Inc. is a national less-than-truckload carrier that hauls pallet-sized shipments for many customers on shared trucks across a network of more than 200 terminals, competing in the same LTL niche as Old Dominion. The company has spent aggressively since 2022, opening dozens of new terminals (including facilities picked up after rival Yellow collapsed in 2023) and investing over $2 billion in real estate and technology to expand its geographic footprint from a regional Southern base toward true national coverage. It added a new Long Island terminal in October 2026 to deepen its Northeast coverage.

The investment picture is a classic growth-versus-cycle tension. Volumes re-accelerated through 2026: Q2 revenue reached about $956M (up about 17% year over year) with net income near $94M, nearly double Q1's roughly $50M, and EPS of $3.51 beat the $3.39 consensus. August tonnage was reported up 8.7%. Against that, margins remain thinner than Old Dominion's while new facilities ramp, freight demand is still uneven, and the stock carries a premium earnings multiple. Shares fell about 23% over the three months to mid-October and trade well below the 52-week high near $495, leaving the stock roughly flat year to date. It is a cyclical, expansion-stage compounder rather than a steady defensive holding.

Saia's earnings are highly cyclical and tied to industrial production, retail freight, and the broader economy, so a prolonged freight recession pressures volumes and pricing at once. The heavy terminal-expansion program raises costs and capital spending ahead of the revenue it is meant to generate: trailing free cash flow was only about $136M against roughly $606M of operating cash flow. The stock trades at about 32x trailing earnings, which amplifies downside if growth or margin recovery disappoints, and the roughly 23% drop over three months to October 2026 shows how quickly sentiment can turn. Competition from larger and better-capitalized rivals such as Old Dominion is intense, and fuel prices, driver costs, and labor availability all add volatility. Weather and seasonal demand swings can materially move any single quarter; the Q4 2026 consensus (about $2.71 EPS) is well below Q3's (about $3.30).

21 analysts publish price targets on SAIA, averaging $420.29 against a $335.00 price as of October 2026, or +25.5%. The published targets run from $285.00 to $510.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 14 buy, 6 hold, 1 sell. Over the last six months there have been 2 raises and 9 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full SAIA forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Saia, Inc.. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. National network expansion. Saia has rapidly grown its terminal count past 200 locations, adding facilities in new markets to convert a historically Southern regional carrier into a national one; the October 2026 Long Island opening extends that push into the Northeast. The most optimistic published target, $510.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Saia's earnings are highly cyclical and tied to industrial production, retail freight, and the broader economy, so a prolonged freight recession pressures volumes and pricing at once. The most pessimistic target, $285.00, is roughly what SAIA is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on SAIA, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Saia, Inc. (SAIA) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Saia, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$3.4B
• Revenue growth (Q2 2026, YoY): ~17%
• Net income (TTM): ~$278M
• Diluted EPS (TTM): ~$10.36
• Operating margin (TTM): ~13%
• Market cap: ~$8.9B
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~32x / ~23x

Q2 2026 revenue of about $956M was up roughly 17% year over year and EPS of $3.51 beat the $3.39 estimate, but the share price has fallen about 23% over three months, so the trailing multiple has compressed from the high 30s to about 32x. The forward P/E near 23x assumes earnings growth of about 25% in both 2026 and 2027. Q3 2026 results are due October 29, 2026, with consensus near $3.30 EPS on about $967M of revenue; figures are approximate and shift with each report and price move.

If you want SAIA exposure as part of a larger bundle rather than directly, these ETFs hold it meaningfully. Weights are approximate and refresh quarterly.

Other names that sit close to SAIA: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get SAIA exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it (AIRR), which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so SAIA sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where SAIA fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

SAIA is a high-growth LTL pure-play executing a big terminal expansion, and a strong Q2 2026 (revenue up about 17% year over year) showed what extra freight on that network can do for earnings. The pairing of long-run upside with cyclical earnings and a premium multiple (about 32x trailing, 23x forward) is unchanged, and the Q3 report on October 29, 2026 is the next test.

Whether SAIA is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is SAIA a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the SAIA stock forecast.

For income investors, whether SAIA pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does SAIA pay a dividend? And to weigh SAIA against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: SAIA vs ODFL and SAIA vs D.