United Airlines Q3 Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported third-quarter 2024 earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 43 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.33, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.10. Earnings decreased 8.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on ZacksEarnings Calendar.

Operating revenues of $14.84 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.76 billion. The top line increased 2.5% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 1.6% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 91.3% of the top line) to $13.56 billion. Almost 45,559 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the third quarter, up 2.7% year over year.

Cargo revenues grew 25.2% year over year to $417 million. Revenues from other sources jumped 7.9% from the third quarter of 2023 to $865 million.

Other Details of Q3

Below, we present all comparisons (in % terms) with the third quarter of 2023 figures unless otherwise stated.

Airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, grew 2.7%. Capacity, measured in available seat miles, expanded 4.1%. As traffic failed to outpace capacity expansion, the consolidated load factor (percentage of seat occupancy) fell 1.1 percentage points to 85.3%. Our estimate is pegged at 82.7%.

Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (a key measure of unit revenues) inched down 2.4%. Total revenue per available seat mile fell 1.6% to 18.20 cents. The average yield per revenue passenger mile fell 1.1% to 19.50 cents.

Average aircraft fuel price per gallon fell 13.2% to $2.56. Fuel gallons consumed were up 3.4%.

Operating expenses (on a reported basis) increased 4.2% to $13.3 billion. Consolidated unit cost or cost per available seat mile (CASM), excluding fuel, third-party business expenses, profit-sharing and special charges, increased 6.5% to 12.26 cents.

UAL exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $8.8 billion compared with $10.8 billion at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt was $22.2 billion compared with $21.7 billion at the second-quarter end.

UAL’s board of directors authorized a new share repurchase program worth $1.5 billion. The program has no specific expiration date and will conclude only when the company has completed all its purchases authorized under the program, if not suspended by the company’s board of directors.

Outlook

For the fourth quarter of 2024, UAL expects adjusted EPS in the range of $2.50-$3.00. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.77 lies within the guidance.

For 2024, UAL continues to expect adjusted capital expenditures of around $6.5 billion.

UAL’s Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Currently, UAL carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can seethe complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

So far this year, shares of United Airlines have gained 55.2% outperforming the industry’s growth of 29.6%.

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Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported third-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 47 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.50 per share, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56. Earnings decreased 26.11% on a year-over-year basis, mainly due to high labor costs.

Revenues of $15.68 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.37 billion and increased 1.2% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.59 billion, flat year over year. This was inclusive of the $380 million impact from the CrowdStrike (CRWD)-caused outage.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) third-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.49 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 but declined 17.2% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3.07 billionsurpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04 billion but fell 3% year over year. The downfall was owing to a 5% and 6% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a decline in load volume of 10% and 6% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), respectively, and 6% fewer stops in Final Mile Services (FMS). These were partially offset by JBI load growth of 5%, which included growth in both the transcontinental and eastern networks, and a 3% increase in revenue per load in ICS. Total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased less than 1% from the year-ago reported quarter.

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