United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.75-1.25 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.53. United Airlines also updated its FY 2025 guidance to 11.500-13.500 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on United Airlines from $88.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on United Airlines from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of United Airlines from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of United Airlines from $70.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of United Airlines from $90.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $106.45.

United Airlines Stock Down 2.3 %

United Airlines stock opened at $107.97 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.24. United Airlines has a twelve month low of $37.02 and a twelve month high of $116.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95.

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The transportation company reported $3.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.96 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $14.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. United Airlines had a return on equity of 34.03% and a net margin of 5.52%. United Airlines’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Airlines will post 12.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Airlines declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 15th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to purchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kate Gebo sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.44, for a total value of $1,407,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 40,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,218,565.28. This represents a 30.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Linda P. Jojo sold 60,000 shares of United Airlines stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total transaction of $5,707,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 63,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,049,536.88. The trade was a 48.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.63% of the company’s stock.

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.