What to Expect from United Continental Holdings

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

United Continental Holdings (NYS: UAL) is expected to report Q1 earnings around Jan. 26. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
 Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict United Continental Holdings's revenues will grow 1.2% and EPS will remain in the red.

The average estimate for revenue is $8.70 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is -$0.51.


Revenue details
 Last quarter, United Continental Holdings booked revenue of $8.70 billion. GAAP reported sales were 2.5% lower than the prior-year quarter's $8.93 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 Last quarter, non-GAAP EPS came in at -$0.58. GAAP EPS were -$1.87 for Q4 compared to -$0.49 per share for the prior-year quarter.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
 For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 21.7%, 270 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was -0.3%, 360 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was -7.1%, 560 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $38.48 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.84.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 388 members out of 786 rating the stock outperform, and 398 members rating it underperform. Among 199 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 93 give United Continental Holdings a green thumbs-up, and 106 give it a red thumbs-down.

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The article What to Expect from United Continental Holdings originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. 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.

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