United jumps after crushing earnings (UAL)
Markets Insider
United Continental jumped 6% Wednesday following its earnings beat Tuesday evening.
The airline topped estimates for earnings and revenue, while increasing its revenue per seat mile.
United Continental rose more than 6% in trading Wednesday after the airline topped Wall Street earnings expectations on Tuesday afternoon.
For the second quarter of 2018, United said it earned an adjusted $3.23 per share, easily beating the $3.06 that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting. Total operating revenue came in at $10.78 billion, topping estimates of $10.72 billion.
United also boosted its profit outlook for the year — something its rivals have been cutting in recent reports. The company says adjusted profit will be as much as $8.75 a share, 25 cents higher than previously forecast. Both American and Delta recently cut their profit projections, citing rising fuel costs.
"We delivered great financial results and strong operational performance in the second quarter despite the significant headwind of higher fuel prices," Oscar Munoz, the airline's chief executive, said in a press release.
United also said it improved overall passenger revenue per available seat mile — a closely watched airline metric, also known as PRASM — by 3% over the same quarter in 2017.
"We believe that we are starting to see an inflection point for customer perception of United (especially relative to Delta),” UBS analyst Darryl Genovesi said in a note ahead of the earnings report, as reported by Bloomberg.
Wall Street analysts polled by Bloomberg have an average target price of $85 — 12% above where shares were set to open Wednesday morning.
United shares have risen 8.8% this year, outpacing the benchmark S&P 500's 4% gain.
NOW WATCH: Here's why the US Men's team sucks at soccer
See Also:
Theresa May narrowly avoids major Brexit defeat on vote to stay in a customs union
A small Japanese city is facing a ninja shortage — even with salaries as high as $85,000
SEE ALSO: Pilotless planes could be a $35 billion opportunity that Wall Street is completely missing, UBS says