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United Airlines (UAL) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) closed at $47.68 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.37% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.32%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.17%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.89%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the airline had lost 9.02% over the past month. This has lagged the Transportation sector's loss of 5.14% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.12% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from United Airlines as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect United Airlines to post earnings of $4.10 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 45.91%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $14.44 billion, up 12.13% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.24 per share and revenue of $53.66 billion. These totals would mark changes of +346.03% and +19.36%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for United Airlines. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.39% lower. United Airlines currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note United Airlines's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 4.3. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.6, which means United Airlines is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, UAL's PEG ratio is currently 0.08. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. Transportation - Airline stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.33 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 94, which puts it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.


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