United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL, ETR:UAL1) shares climbed in Wednesday’s pre-market trading following news of record passenger figures last year and profit in the fourth quarter.
Almost 174 million passengers travelled with the airline last year, it said on Tuesday evening, as demand for premium, corporate and economy seats all picked up.
Fourth quarter profit had also hit a record, the airline reported, with net income climbing from US$600 million to US$985 million year on year to sit at $2.95 on a per share basis.
Adjusted earnings per share of $3.26 beat expectations for $3.04 over the quarter, as a 7.8% increase in revenue to $14.7 billion also nudged past forecasts.
Chief executive Scott Kirby noted “2024 was a strong year across the board” on the back of the figures, which showed full-year pre-tax earnings up 23% at $4.2 billion.
“We’ve become the leading global airline,” Kirby added, “we enter 2025 with demand trends continuing to accelerate which puts us on the path to double-digit pre-tax margins”.
Guidance was laid out for adjusted earnings of $0.75 to $1.25 per share for the first quarter, against analysts’ expectations of $0.53.
Shares climbed 3.6% to $114.50 ahead of Wednesday's opening bell.