United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) Updates Q4 Earnings Guidance

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.50-$3.00 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.76. United Airlines also updated its Q4 2024 guidance to 2.500-3.000 EPS.

United Airlines Trading Up 1.8 %

UAL opened at $73.33 on Friday. United Airlines has a 1-year low of $33.68 and a 1-year high of $74.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.50.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $3.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.23. United Airlines had a net margin of 5.28% and a return on equity of 33.90%. The firm had revenue of $14.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.76 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Airlines will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Airlines announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, October 15th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire up to 7.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on UAL. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on United Airlines from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of United Airlines from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of United Airlines from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of United Airlines from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of United Airlines from $66.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Airlines currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.88.

United Airlines Company Profile

United Airlines Holdings, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company transports people and cargo through its mainline and regional fleets. It also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties.