Shares of United Airlines (UAL) jumped in after-hours trading after the airline company reported earnings for its fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. Earnings per share came in at $3.26, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $3.03 per share. In addition, sales increased by 7.6% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $14.67 billion. This also beat analysts’ expectations of $14.41 billion.
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Total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) rose by 1.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. However, the cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased by 1.6%. Nevertheless, CASM-ex (which excludes the impact of fuel expense, profit sharing, special charges, and third-party expenses) increased by 5% year-over-year.
In addition, during the fourth quarter, UAL returned roughly $81 million to shareholders in the form of buybacks. The firm has regularly repurchased its shares in each of the most recent quarters (as demonstrated in the image below), although the amount repurchased over the previous two quarters was minimal. Still, UAL has $1.4 billion remaining under its buyback plan.
Looking forward, United Airlines did not provide guidance for the following quarter in today’s press release but will discuss its financial and operational outlook during a conference call on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Investor Sentiment for UAL Stock
Although the firm has not provided guidance yet, sentiment among TipRanks investors is currently very positive, which indicates that they are confident in the firm’s future. Indeed, there was a 5.8% increase in the number of portfolios holding UAL stock during the past 30 days, even as the stock hovers around 52-week highs. This is based on over 781,000 portfolios tracked by TipRanks.
Is United Airlines a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on UAL stock based on 17 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 187% rally in its share price over the past year, the average UAL price target of $128.06 per share implies 15.9% upside potential. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
