Airline Stocks Achieving Altitude After United's Big Q3 Beat

Close on the heels of big banks delivering earnings beats for the third quarter, it now appears that the same could be seen in the airlines sector as well, with United Continental Holdings Inc UAL delivering a big beat in the third quarter.

On October 13, Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL set the trend for the airlines sector with its better-than-estimated EPS for the September quarter. The company reported adjusted EPS of $1.70 on revenue of $11.107 billion. Analysts expected an EPS of $1.64.

On Tuesday, United Continental Holdings delivered adjusted profit of $997 million or EPS of $3.11 on revenues of $9.9 billion. The Street expected the company to deliver EPS of $2.88 on revenue of $9.91 billion.

Two companies from the airlines sector beating the Street estimates sets the tone for similar expectations from other companies in the same sector. This is reflected in stock price movements on Tuesday.

The following companies' results are yet to come:

• American Airlines Group Inc AAL: The company will announce its results Thursday. Analysts expect EPS of $1.57 on revenue of $10.54 billion.
• Sprint Airlines, Inc. SAVE will announce its results on October 25. Analysts predict an EPS of $1.09 and revenue of $611.52 million.
• Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA will disclose its quarterly results after the market closes on October 18. Analysts expect EPS of $1.80 on revenue of $669.88 million.

At Last Check ...

• American Airlines was up 2.53 percent at $39.56.
• Delta Air Lines was up 0.69 percent at $39.64.
• Hawaiian Holdings was up 1.39 percent at $49.01.
• Spirit Airlines was up 3.54 percent at $45.37.
• United was up 2.02 percent at $54.10.

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