United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL), Inc. UAL shares have lost 48.6% of value in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s 25.3% decline.
Reasons for Plunge
The coronavirus outbreak is taking a significant toll on United Airlines. Due to slump in air-travel demand, the carrier incurred a loss in each of the first three quarters of 2020. Notably, passenger revenues plunged 68.4% year over year in the first nine months of 2020.
Due to the massive capacity cuts (available seat miles, a measure of capacity, are down 56.9% in the first nine months of 2020), non-fuel unit costs are surging. Notably, cost per available seat mile (CASM) excluding fuel, third-party business expenses, profit-sharing and special charges escalated in excess of 100% in the September quarter. The metric surged 72.3% in the first nine months of 2020.
Recent spike in coronavirus cases in the United States has hampered bookings. As a result, the carrier offered a bleak outlook for the December quarter. It now expects capacity to decline at least 55% year over year from a decline of approximately 55%, expected previously. Revenues are expected to slump nearly 67%.
Significant reduction in fuel prices since the beginning of this year is partly offsetting the adversity. In fact, low fuel prices (down 35.1% in third-quarter 2020) are driving the carrier’s bottom line.
Unfavorable Estimate Revisions
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year bottom-line widened from a loss of $23.65 to a loss of $26.67 per share in the past 60 days.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
United Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Transportation sector are Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. KNX, Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR), Inc. LSTR and Herc Holdings (NYSE:HRI) Inc. HRI. Landstar carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while Knight-Swift and Herc Holdings sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Knight-Swift, Landstar and Herc Holdings is pegged at 15%, 12% and 12.6%, respectively.
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United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
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