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Strength Seen in United (UAL): Can Its 7.5% Jump Turn into More Strength?

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United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) shares rallied 7.5% in the last trading session to close at $51.30. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 19% gain over the past four weeks.

The uptick was owing to the bullish guidance given by UAL's peer American Airlines for fourth-quarter 2022. AAL's bullish guidance was owing to the stronger-than-expected rebound in air-travel demand from pandemic lows. UAL's fourth-quarter 2022 results should also benefit from upbeat passenger revenues owing to the buoyant air-travel demand. UAL is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2022 results on Jan 17.

This airline is expected to post quarterly earnings of $2.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +229.4%. Revenues are expected to be $12.25 billion, up 49.5% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For United, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 43.6% higher over the last 30 days to the current level. And a positive trend in earnings estimate revision usually translates into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on UAL going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

United is a member of the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry. One other stock in the same industry, Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC - Free Report) , finished the last trading session 5.8% higher at $12.07. ULCC has returned -4.8% over the past month.

For Frontier Group, the consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -16.7% over the past month to $0.18. This represents a change of +175% from what the company reported a year ago. Frontier Group currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).


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