The airline giant handily beat third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates
United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) stock is trading at more than four-year highs after earnings, up 7.4% at $68.77 at last check. The airline giant beat third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, and announced a $1.5 billion stock buyback program -- its first since pre-pandemic trading.
Unsurprisingly, options traders are all over UAL after the results. Already today, more than 72,000 calls and 52,000 puts have been traded, which is 13 times the average intraday volume. The October 72 call is seeing the most activity and new positions being bought to open, while the November 57.50 put follows at a distant second.
Analysts are also responding to the third-quarter win, with Deutsche Bank and Barclays hiking their price targets to $80 and $75, respectively. Short interest is ticking higher too, up 8.5% over the last two weeks, and the 16.43 million shares sold short account for 5% of United Airlines stock's total available float.
Today's pop puts UAL ahead 70.4% over the last 12 months, and 65.7% since the start of 2024. The fourth quarter might have just started, but the security is already up 20% in that timeframe. United Airlines stock is also on track to secure its fifth-straight daily win, and its best single-session percentage gain since Sept. 26.