Earnings Preview: UAL Corp.

UAL Corporation (UAUA) is expected to report Q2 earnings before market open Tuesday, July 22, with a conference call scheduled for 11:00 am ET.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of ($2.05) on revenue of $5.39B. The consensus range is ($3.17) to ($1.80) for EPS, and $5.37B to $5.5B for revenue, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

On July 11, UAL announced it plans to take Q2 non cash charges of as much as $2.7B, mostly to reflect a write-down to zero of the value of its intangible assets, or goodwill. The company stated the write-down is the result of record-high fuel prices hammering its financial results and its market capitalization. On July 14, the company was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform by Credit Suisse, who cited higher oil prices and deteriorating economic conditions. However, on July 18, UAL Corp was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JP Morgan. The firm based the upgrade on valuation and expectations for the company to make a capital announcements on next weeks conference call.

Comments

[Get a Clue!:]

It doesnt' matter WHAT fuel does, unless it goes to $30.

UA is on it's way to a second BK. Just a matter of time.

2008 Jul 21 12:53 PM

[Lawn Dart:]

I couldn't agree more. UA has been so badly managed for so long, it doesn't deserve to be saved. I hope it's next Chapter is 7, not 11.

2008 Jul 21 04:16 PM

[UA Lifer:]

I hope you two are wrong and all the "cleaning up" UAL did planning for a merger also helps the bottom line. I have to think UAL is in the same boat as AA, Delta and Northwest. If the boat sinks, what will happen to air transportation in the US???

2008 Jul 21 06:06 PM