United Airlines Reports Mixed Financial Results

The stock of United Airlines (UAL) is down 3% after the carrier reported mixed financial results for this year’s second quarter and offered new forward guidance.The Chicago-based airline reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.87 U.S., which was ahead of the $3.81 U.S. expected among analysts. However, revenue of $15.24 billion U.S. came in below Wall Street forecasts of $15.35 billion U.S. Sales were up only 1.7% from a year earlier.Despite the mixed print, United Airlines’ management team issued new guidance for this year, saying that travel demand is picking up after a difficult start to 2025. The carrier now expects earnings of $9 U.S. to $11 U.S. per share. The midpoint of that guidance matches the $10 U.S. a share that analysts had expected.For the current third quarter, United Airlines expects earnings of $2.25 U.S. to $2.75 U.S. a share, which is also within analysts’ expectations. Travel demand, particularly on domestic U.S. flights, has proven to be weaker than airline executives had expected at the start 2025, sending airfares lower as a result. United Airlines said that operational constraints at Newark International Airport, a major hub for the company, hurt its second-quarter pretax margin by 1.2 percentage points.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cut flights at Newark in May of this year because of air traffic control staffing shortages and some technical issues. Prior to today (July 17), UAL stock was down 7% this year and trading at $88.47 U.S. per share.