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Union Pacific (UNP) to Get New CEO Replacing Lance Fritz
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Union Pacific (UNP - Free Report) is looking for an appropriate successor to current CEO Lance Fritz. Fritz, who has been the company’s CEO since 2015 has decided to step down. The railroad operator intends to appoint Fritz’s successor during the course of the current year.
Expressing his gratitude, Fritz stated “It is my honor and privilege to serve this great company. I am proud of our team and all we have built together. Union Pacific has been my home for 22 years and I am confident that now is the right time for Union Pacific’s next leader to take the helm. I look forward to working with the Board as we identify our next CEO to lead the Company into the future.”
Even though UNP has tasted success in general during Fritz’s tenure at the helm, the past year has been a tough one due to headwinds like economic uncertainties and high costs. Shares of UNP have shed 17.8% of their value in a year’s time compared with its industry’s 10.6% decline in the same time frame.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Last month, Union Pacific reported lower-than-expected earnings per share and revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to high costs.
In fact, the hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners has reportedly been exerting constant pressure to replace Fritz as it holds the opinion that Fritz has lost confidence of shareholders, employees, customers and regulators.. Soroban has also alleged that UNP has lagged its peers in terms of every key railroad operating metric during Fritz’s tenure. Soroban owns roughly a $1.6 billion stake in UNP.
With an important stake holder calling for a change at the helm, it will be interesting to see who eventually replaces Fritz. UNP will be hoping that the successor is able to stem the downward movement of UNP shares and bring about a turnaround in its fortunes.
American Airlines is being aided by the improved air-travel-demand scenario. Owing to upbeat air-travel demand, operating revenues at AAL in fourth-quarter 2022 increased 39.3% year over year. Buoyant air-travel demand is also reflected by the total operating revenue increase of 16.6% from the fourth-quarter 2019 (pre-COVID-19) levels despite 6.1% lower capacity.
Driven by soaring demand on healthy bookings, management expects total unit revenues in the first quarter of 2023 to be roughly 24-27% higher than the level recorded in first-quarter 2022. The AAL stock has evidenced the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2023 earnings being revised upward by 100% in the past 60 days.
Alaska Air too is being aided by the buoyant air-travel-demand scenario. On the back of upbeat air-travel demand and favorable pricing, Alaska Air reported better-than-expected earnings per share in fourth-quarter 2022.
Alaska Air expects to boost its fleet and also workforce in 2023 to meet the anticipated high demand. ALK expects first-quarter 2023 total revenues to increase 29-32% from the first-quarter 2022 actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK’s current-year earnings has improved 12.4% over the past 60 days.
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Union Pacific (UNP) to Get New CEO Replacing Lance Fritz
Union Pacific (UNP - Free Report) is looking for an appropriate successor to current CEO Lance Fritz. Fritz, who has been the company’s CEO since 2015 has decided to step down. The railroad operator intends to appoint Fritz’s successor during the course of the current year.
Expressing his gratitude, Fritz stated “It is my honor and privilege to serve this great company. I am proud of our team and all we have built together. Union Pacific has been my home for 22 years and I am confident that now is the right time for Union Pacific’s next leader to take the helm. I look forward to working with the Board as we identify our next CEO to lead the Company into the future.”
Even though UNP has tasted success in general during Fritz’s tenure at the helm, the past year has been a tough one due to headwinds like economic uncertainties and high costs. Shares of UNP have shed 17.8% of their value in a year’s time compared with its industry’s 10.6% decline in the same time frame.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Last month, Union Pacific reported lower-than-expected earnings per share and revenues in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to high costs.
In fact, the hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners has reportedly been exerting constant pressure to replace Fritz as it holds the opinion that Fritz has lost confidence of shareholders, employees, customers and regulators.. Soroban has also alleged that UNP has lagged its peers in terms of every key railroad operating metric during Fritz’s tenure. Soroban owns roughly a $1.6 billion stake in UNP.
With an important stake holder calling for a change at the helm, it will be interesting to see who eventually replaces Fritz. UNP will be hoping that the successor is able to stem the downward movement of UNP shares and bring about a turnaround in its fortunes.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Union Pacific currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Transportation sector are American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) and Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) , both carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), presently. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
American Airlines is being aided by the improved air-travel-demand scenario. Owing to upbeat air-travel demand, operating revenues at AAL in fourth-quarter 2022 increased 39.3% year over year. Buoyant air-travel demand is also reflected by the total operating revenue increase of 16.6% from the fourth-quarter 2019 (pre-COVID-19) levels despite 6.1% lower capacity.
Driven by soaring demand on healthy bookings, management expects total unit revenues in the first quarter of 2023 to be roughly 24-27% higher than the level recorded in first-quarter 2022. The AAL stock has evidenced the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter 2023 earnings being revised upward by 100% in the past 60 days.
Alaska Air too is being aided by the buoyant air-travel-demand scenario. On the back of upbeat air-travel demand and favorable pricing, Alaska Air reported better-than-expected earnings per share in fourth-quarter 2022.
Alaska Air expects to boost its fleet and also workforce in 2023 to meet the anticipated high demand. ALK expects first-quarter 2023 total revenues to increase 29-32% from the first-quarter 2022 actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK’s current-year earnings has improved 12.4% over the past 60 days.