Why United Continental Is Poised to Dive

Updated

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, airline operator United Continental Holdings has received the dreaded one-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at United Continental and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

United Continental facts

Headquarters (founded)

Chicago (1934)

Market Cap

$8.6 billion

Industry

Airlines

Trailing-12-Month Revenue

$37.4 billion

Management

Chairman/CEO Jeffery Smisek
CFO John Rainey

Return on Capital
(average, past 3 years)

11.4%

Cash/Debt

$6.7 billion / $12.2 billion

Competitors

Delta Air Lines Southwest Airlines US Airways Group


Sources: S&P Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

On CAPS, 51% of the 782 members who have rated United Continental believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward.

Just yesterday, one of those Fools, adamathm, succinctly summed up the United Continental bear case for our community:

This is the classic airline stock right now. Heavy [capital expenditures], low profitability, labor union problems that can only be solved by throwing lots of money at workers, etc. I think [United Continental] will continue to disappoint for the next few quarters.

If you want market-topping returns, you need to protect your portfolio from any undue risk. Luckily, we've found another stock we are incredibly excited about -- excited enough to dub it "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2013." We have compiled a special free report for investors to uncover this stock today. The report is 100% free, but it won't be here forever, so click here to access it now.

Want to see how well (or not so well) the stocks in this series are performing? Follow the TrackPoisedTo CAPS account.

The article Why United Continental Is Poised to Dive originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Southwest Airlines. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Advertisement