United Airlines Earnings Preview: Could Airline Impress Investors After Delta's Strong Guidance?

A United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) analyst says the company could mirror recent earnings strength and guidance that Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) had when the company reports fourth-quarter financial results on Jan. 21.

The United Airlines Analyst: Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora reiterated a Buy rating on United Airlines and raised the price target from $100 to $120.

The Analyst Takeaways: United Airlines could be the biggest winner from a strong outlook shared by Delta, Didora said in a new investor note.

"We expect UAL to report strong 4Q24 results and guide 1Q25 ahead of consensus when the company reports earnings on 1/21," Didora said.

The analyst raised fourth quarter, first quarter and full year 2025 earnings per share estimates ahead of the earnings report.

"The airline is the biggest beneficiary of the strong premium, corporate, and transatlantic growth mentioned in DAL's earnings report last week."

Didora said United's premium product offering and coastal hubs that see strong corporate share should see the airline company reporting results in line with Delta or better.

"The magnitude of DAL's +7-9% 1Q25 revenue guide was a positive surprise to us, and this outlook was well ahead of our prior/Visible Alpha consensus 1Q25 revenue growth forecast of +6.0% for UAL."

The analyst estimates UAL could see 7.5% year-over-year growth in the first quarter based on Delta's report.

"We are modeling consistent unit revenue growth throughout 2025 of around 3% for total revenue growth of +7.6%."

The analyst said the new forecast should allow United to see both higher earnings and free cash flow, allowing the company to complete its buyback and see "further de-leveraging."

UAL Price Action: United Airlines stock is down 3.32% to $103.52 at publication Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $37.02 to $110.92. United Airlines stock is up 164% over the last year.

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