united airlines The airline said it has cut its profit forecast for this year as fuel costs continue to rise, but passenger bookings continue.
United Airlines said Tuesday that it expects fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 50 cents to $1.50 a share, well below the $1.76 a share that Wall Street analysts had expected. At the high end of this range, United Airlines’ 2026 adjusted earnings would be less than $7.22 per share. United Airlines announced in mid-July that it expects full-year earnings to be between $9 and $11 per share.
Airlines expect to pay an average of $4.80 per gallon for fuel in the fourth quarter, up from an average fuel price of $3.90 per gallon in the third quarter.
Rising fuel prices this year have added billions of dollars to airline costs, squeezing profits and pushing airfares higher despite strong demand.
Below is a comparison of what United Airlines reported for the quarter ending Sept. 30 with Wall Street expectations, based on estimates compiled by LSEG.
Earnings per share: $2.54 adjusted vs. $2.57 expected Revenue: $17.88 billion vs. $17.9 billion expected
United Airlines’ third-quarter net income rose 8.5% from a year earlier to $1.03 billion, or $3.14 per share. Net income for the same period last year totaled $949 million, or $2.90 per share.
“Our employees rose to the challenge of an ever-changing environment, and our results demonstrated the resilience of our focus on building an airline that is true to our brand for our customers,” United CEO Scott Kirby said in an earnings call.
United’s fuel costs rose nearly 62% to $4.84 billion in the quarter from a year earlier.
Sales for the three months ended September 30th increased 17.4% year-on-year to $17.88 billion (compared to $15.23 billion in the same period last year).
Domestic passenger unit price increased by 14.5% year-on-year, and international passenger unit price increased by 17.4%, indicating a rise in fares. United Airlines said passengers continue to book and passenger traffic is up more than 2% from last year.
Adjusted for one-time items, United Airlines reported net income of $833 million, or $2.54 per share.
