United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, down 48.6% year over year but above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 by 3.7%.
Operating revenues rose 16% to $17.67 billion and were essentially in line with the $17.68-billion consensus mark. A 12.1% increase in total revenue per available seat mile, or TRASM, and broad-based gains across premium, loyalty and cargo revenues supported the top line despite sharply higher fuel costs.
United Airlines Holdings Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
United Airlines Holdings Inc price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | United Airlines Holdings Inc Quote
UAL Benefits From Strong Passenger Revenue Trends
Passenger revenues increased 16.4% year over year to $16.10 billion. Domestic passenger revenues advanced 20.3%, while international passenger revenues rose 11.2%. Pacific revenues increased 18.7%, Europe gained 10.2% and Latin America improved 10.5%, partly offset by a 16.4% decline in the Middle East, India and Africa region.
Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile increased 12.5%, while yield rose 12.1%. Premium revenues grew 16%, Basic Economy revenues advanced 11% and loyalty revenues increased 11%. Contracted business revenues jumped 27%, reflecting robust close-in demand.
United Airlines Posts Better Traffic and Load Factor
Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, increased 3.8%, while capacity rose 3.5%. With traffic growth slightly outpacing capacity expansion, the consolidated load factor improved 0.3 percentage points to 83.4%.
United transported 48.7 million passengers, up 5.4% from the prior-year period. Domestic load factor declined 0.6 points to 83.5%, but the international load factor climbed 1.2 points to 83.2%. The airline also operated the 10 highest-volume passenger days in its history during June.
UAL Faces a Sharp Increase in Fuel Expense
Operating expenses rose 19.2% to $16.58 billion, outpacing revenue growth. Aircraft fuel expense surged 84.1% to $5.11 billion as the average fuel price increased 79.4% to $4.19 per gallon. Fuel consumption rose 2.7%.
Cost per available seat mile increased 15.2% to 18.99 cents. CASM-ex, which excludes fuel, profit sharing, special items and third-party business expenses, rose 6.1% to 13.12 cents. Salaries and related costs increased 6.2%, while distribution expenses climbed 32.3%.
United Airlines Sees Profitability Contract
Adjusted operating income fell 46.3% to $951 million, while the adjusted operating margin narrowed 6.2 percentage points to 5.4%. Adjusted pre-tax income declined 49.5% to $843 million, and the adjusted pre-tax margin contracted to 4.8% from 11%.
Adjusted net income decreased 48.7% to $649 million. On a reported basis, net income fell 17.3% to $805 million, while diluted earnings declined to $2.46 per share from $2.97. The difference reflected special credits, including gains from aircraft sale-leaseback transactions.
UAL Generates Cash and Builds Liquidity
Operating cash flow totaled $1.61 billion during the quarter, while free cash flow came in at $322 million. Adjusted capital expenditures were $1.45 billion, reflecting continued spending on fleet and customer-facing investments.
Available liquidity ended the quarter at $19.6 billion. Cash and cash equivalents totaled $10.17 billion, while short-term investments were $6.47 billion. Debt, finance lease obligations and other financial liabilities stood at $26.46 billion, and trailing-12-month net leverage was 2.2 times.
United Airlines Raises Its Full-Year Outlook
United now expects adjusted earnings of $9-$11 per share for 2026. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of $10.68 for full-year earnings lies within the company's guided range. For the third quarter, adjusted earnings are projected between $2.50 and $3.50 per share, based on an assumed all-in fuel price of approximately $3.69 per gallon. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for third-quarter earnings is pegged at $3.68.
Management expects third and fourth-quarter TRASM growth to exceed the second quarter’s 12.1% increase. The airline anticipates recovering 80%-90% of the fuel-price increase in the third quarter and all of it by the fourth quarter. Adjusted capital expenditures are forecast at approximately $7.5 billion for 2026.
UAL Expands Its Fleet and Customer Investments
United expects its mainline fleet to reach 1,173 aircraft by year-end, up from 1,122 at the end of the second quarter. The plan includes 323 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, 100 Boeing 787s and 88 Airbus A321neo or XLR aircraft. Regional aircraft are expected to total 442.
The airline had installed Starlink on more than 450 aircraft and expects nearly 1,000 installations by year-end. It also plans to introduce its first Airbus A321XLR into domestic service in the fall, followed by international deployment early next year.
UAL’s Zacks Rank
Currently, UAL carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q2 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported second-quarter 2026 earnings (excluding 88 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.56 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51. Earnings declined in double digits (percentage-wise) from a year ago as sharply higher fuel costs pressured profitability.
Revenues rose on a year-over-year basis to $17.67 billion but missed the consensus estimate of $17.76 billion. Broad demand strength lifted adjusted total revenue per available seat mile, or TRASM, 12.4%, while premium and diversified revenue streams continued to expand.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.91 per share, up 45.8% from $1.31 a year ago. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.71 by 11.7%.
Operating revenues climbed 19.4% year over year to $3.50 billion and surpassed the consensus mark of $3.19 billion by 9.5%. Higher volumes and pricing across several businesses supported growth, led by a 10% increase in Intermodal loads.
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