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United Airlines (UAL) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $52.96, demonstrating a +0.61% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.29%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.31%.

Shares of the airline have appreciated by 26.05% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Transportation sector's gain of 4.32% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.57%.

Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of United Airlines in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $3.05, indicating a 16.44% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $14.97 billion, up 3.39% from the year-ago period.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $9.74 per share and a revenue of $56.77 billion, indicating changes of -3.08% and +5.69%, respectively, from the former year.

Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for United Airlines. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 1.1% upward. United Airlines is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

With respect to valuation, United Airlines is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 5.41. This denotes a discount relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 10.4.

One should further note that UAL currently holds a PEG ratio of 1.1. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Transportation - Airline industry stood at 1.07 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 182, finds itself in the bottom 29% echelons of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank evaluates the power of our distinct industry groups by determining the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks forming the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Keep in mind to rely on Zacks.com to watch all these stock-impacting metrics, and more, in the succeeding trading sessions.


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