United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 15, after market close.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UAL’s second-quarter 2026 earnings per share has been revised downward by 8.3% over the past 60 days to $1.78. The consensus mark for earnings implies a 54% increase from the year ago actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UAL’s second-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $66.8 billion, indicating 13.1% growth year over year.
United Airlines has an encouraging earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 4.95%.
United Airlines Holdings Inc Price and EPS Surprise
United Airlines Holdings Inc price-eps-surprise | United Airlines Holdings Inc Quote
Let’s see how things have shaped up for United Airlines this earnings season.
Factors Likely to Have Influenced UAL’s Q2 Performance
We expect the UAL’stop line in the to-be-reported quarter to have been bolstered by improvement in air-travel demand, driven by its ongoing network expansion and customer-focused initiatives.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for passenger revenues is pegged at $16.12 billion, which indicates an increase of 16.4% from the second-quarter 2025 actuals. Meanwhile, the consensus estimates for cargo and other revenues for the June-end quarter of 2026 are pegged at $458.9 million and $1.06 billion, respectively, indicating increases of 6.7% and 9% year over year.
On the contrary, the high fuel costs are expected to have weighed on UAL’s bottom-line performance in the to-be-reported quarter. Elevated fuel expenses, coupled with higher labor costs, are expected to have driven up the airline's overall operating costs, putting pressure on margins and profitability.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for average fuel cost per gallon is pegged at $4.27, which is higher than the $2.34 reported in the second quarter of 2025. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for non-fuel unit cost or cost per available seat mile (CASM: adjusted) is pinned at 13.01 cents compared with 12.36 cents reported in the second quarter of 2025.
What Our Model Says About UAL
Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for United Airlines this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.
UAL has an Earnings ESP of +1.26% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Other Stocks to Consider
Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector that investors may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.
Expeditors International of Washington EXPD has an Earnings ESP of +2.18% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
EXPD is set to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on Aug. 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Expeditors’ second-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised 3.21% upward over the past 60 days. EXPD’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, delivering an average beat of 13.96%.
Schneider National SNDR has an Earnings ESP of +3.76% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. SNDR is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 30.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised downwards by 4.35% over the past 60 days to 22 cents. SNDR’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the preceding four quarters (missing the mark twice and met the mark once in the remaining three quarters). The average miss is 17.97%.
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United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD): Free Stock Analysis Report
Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).