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United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported solid fourth-quarter 2024 results, with both earnings and revenues surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.26 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.01. The bottom line increased 63% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure exceeded the company guided range of $2.50-$3.00.
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Operating revenues of $14.7 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.4 billion. The top line increased 7.8% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 6.9% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.3% of the top line) to $13.3 billion. Almost 44,344 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the fourth quarter, up 6.1% year over year.
Cargo revenues grew 29.6% year over year to $521 million. Revenues from other sources rose 12% from the fourth quarter of 2023 to $899 million.
United Airlines Holdings Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
United Airlines Holdings Inc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | United Airlines Holdings Inc Quote
United Airlines' chief executive officer, Scott Kirby, stated, "United had a unique strategy coming out of COVID and our people have delivered for customers leading to a structurally and permanently changed industry. 2024 was a strong year across the board for United as we've become the leading global airline and we enter 2025 with demand trends continuing to accelerate which puts us on the path to double-digit pre-tax margins."
Other Details of UAL’s Q4 Earnings
Below, we present all comparisons (in % terms) with the fourth quarter of 2023 figures unless otherwise stated.
Airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, grew 6.3%. Capacity, measured in available seat miles, expanded 6.2%. Although traffic outpaced capacity expansion, the consolidated load factor (percentage of seat occupancy) of 82.3% remained flat on a year-over-year basis, reflecting consistent passenger demand for the airline's services. Our estimate is pegged at 80.5%.
Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (a key measure of unit revenues) inched up 0.6%. Total revenue per available seat mile increased 1.6% to 18.77 cents. The average yield per revenue passenger mile rose 0.6% to 20.59 cents.
Average aircraft fuel price per gallon fell 23.3% to $2.40. Our estimate is pegged at $2.81.
Fuel gallons consumed were up 5.3%.
Operating expenses (on a reported basis) increased 4.5% to $13.2 billion. Consolidated unit cost or cost per available seat mile (CASM), excluding fuel, third-party business expenses, profit-sharing and special charges, decreased 1.6% to 16.85 cents.