United Airlines posts Q2 revenue miss, issues softer guidance as demand slows

Investing.com — United Airlines on Wednesday reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter revenue and guidance for the current quarter that fell short of Wall Street estimates amid slowing air travel demand. 

United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:) was flat after swinging between gains and losses in afterhours trading following the results. 

United Airlines Holdings adjusted earnings per share of $4.14 on revenue of $14.99 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated a EPS of $3.98 a share on revenue of $15.11 billion.

Second quarter cost per available seat mile, or CASM was down 4.8% compared with CASM in Q2 2023.

Looking ahead, the airline forecast Q3 adjusted EPS of $2.75 to $3.25, below estimates for $3.59. 

The weaker guidance comes at a difficult time for the airline industry, as a variety of U.S. airlines recently flagged this summer and mid-August as an inflection point, United Airlines said, with “published schedule changes showing an approximately 3 point decline in industry capacity growth rate.”

As the inflection point draws closer, multiple airlines are cutting loss-making capacity, United Airlines said, touting improved performance in the second half of Q3. 

“Looking forward, we see multiple airlines have begun to cancel loss-making capacity, and we expect leading unit revenue performance among our largest peers in the second half of the third quarter,” it added.

For the full-year, the airline continues to expect adjusted EPS in a range of $9.00 to $11.00.