What are the investment strengths of United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL)?

Operating margin 8.9% TTM vs industry median 4.3% - 2x profitability advantage with 58.4B revenue scale creates earnings leverage. EPS $10.87 at P/E 9.6x. FCF of 3.7B TTM (6.4% yield on market cap) funds deleveraging without equity dilution. PCF 3.6x vs industry 8.0x suggests cash generation undervalued.

What are the investment risks for United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL)?

Total debt 31.3B at 2.2x equity with 1.2B annual interest expense. Rising rates or revenue shock could stress coverage - EBITDA/interest only 4.5x. Revenue growth decelerating: 5Y CAGR 43.7% → 3Y 5.7% → 1Y 2.6%. Mature airline with cyclical exposure, limited pricing power in downturn.

United Airlines Holdings Inc

UAL

—

Build a strategy around UAL

United Airlines Holdings Inc AI Insights

Informational only. Not investment advice.

As of 2025-12-08

Snapshot

ROE of 25.6% TTM vs industry median 7.1% - 3.6x advantage despite 2.2x debt/equity, demonstrating efficient capital deployment in capital-intensive sector.[Return on Equity]
Negative working capital of -9.0B TTM - customers prepay tickets, funding operations interest-free. Structural cash advantage vs asset-heavy balance sheet.[Working Capital]
5Y revenue CAGR 43.7% vs industry median 18.2% - post-COVID recovery complete, but 3Y CAGR now 5.7% signals normalization to mature growth.[Total Revenue 5 Year Growth]

Watch Triggers

Free Cash Flow: Falls below 2.5B TTM — Deleveraging thesis requires sustained FCF; drop signals capex overrun or demand weakness
Operating Margin: Compresses below 6% — Fuel/labor cost inflation eroding 2x industry advantage would reset earnings power
Debt to Equity: Rises above 2.5x — Balance sheet deterioration increases refinancing risk and equity dilution probability

Bull Case

Operating margin 8.9% TTM vs industry median 4.3% - 2x profitability advantage with 58.4B revenue scale creates earnings leverage. EPS $10.87 at P/E 9.6x.

Operating MarginP/E RatioEPS

FCF of 3.7B TTM (6.4% yield on market cap) funds deleveraging without equity dilution. PCF 3.6x vs industry 8.0x suggests cash generation undervalued.

Free Cash FlowP/CF RatioTotal Debt

Bear Case

Total debt 31.3B at 2.2x equity with 1.2B annual interest expense. Rising rates or revenue shock could stress coverage - EBITDA/interest only 4.5x.

Total DebtDebt to EquityInterest Expense

Revenue growth decelerating: 5Y CAGR 43.7% → 3Y 5.7% → 1Y 2.6%. Mature airline with cyclical exposure, limited pricing power in downturn.

Total Revenue 1 Year GrowthTotal Revenue 3 Year Growth

Bull vs Bear Balance

AI-generated sentiment analysis based on fundamental metrics and market conditions.

55%

Leverage UAL's top insights and create a custom strategy based on them in seconds. Our AI editor does it all — in one click.

Take Me to The Editor

Forward Thesis

FCF generation to accelerate as capex cycle peaks, enabling debt reduction from 2.2x to under 1.5x equity

1-3ymed

Capex of 5.7B TTM vs 9.4B operating cash flow
Net debt 18.7B on 3.7B FCF = 5yr paydown path
Interest expense 1.2B compressing margins 2%

FCF 3.7B TTM positive despite heavy fleet investmentPCF ratio 3.6x vs industry 8.0x medianDebt/equity 2.2x down from pandemic highs

Valuation Context

Caveats

Public Strategies Rankings

See how United Airlines Holdings Inc ranks across different investment strategies.

Leverage UAL's top insights and create a custom strategy in seconds. Our AI editor does it all — in one click.

UAL Fundamentals

Transportation and Warehousing → Air Transportation

Metric	Value	YoY Growth	Industry Percentile
Market Cap	$30.15B		—
Enterprise Value	$55.25B		—
P/E Ratio	9.0		—
Total Revenue - TTM	$59.07B	+3.5%	—
Earnings Per Share (diluted) - TTM	$10.20	+6.4%	—
Operating Margin - TTM	8.42%	-0.7%	—
Net Margin - TTM	5.68%	+0.2%	—
Free Cash Flow - TTM	$2.56B	-33.2%	—
Return on Common Equity - TTM	24.0%	-4.6%	—
Beta 5Y (Monthly)	unknown		—

UAL Dividend History

7 dividends

2008

$2.1500

01/07/08$2.1500

2001

$0.6750

07/12/01$0.0500

04/11/01$0.3125

01/11/01$0.3125

2000

$0.9375

10/12/00$0.3125

07/12/00$0.3125

05/25/00$0.3125

UAL Stock Splits

No stock splits

UAL SEC Filings

Filing Date	Report Date	Report Type	Filing Link
02/12/26	12/31/25	10-K	0000100517-26-000023
10/16/25	09/30/25	10-Q	0000100517-25-000193
07/17/25	06/30/25	10-Q	0000100517-25-000147
04/16/25	03/31/25	10-Q	0000100517-25-000091
02/27/25	12/31/24	Unknown	0000100517-25-000046
10/16/24	09/30/24	10-Q	0000100517-24-000136
07/18/24	06/30/24	10-Q	0000100517-24-000121
04/17/24	03/31/24	10-Q	0000100517-24-000079
02/29/24	12/31/23	10-K	0000100517-24-000027
10/18/23	09/30/23	10-Q	0000100517-23-000186
07/20/23	06/30/23	10-Q	0000100517-23-000153
04/20/23	03/31/23	10-Q	0000100517-23-000116
02/16/23	12/31/22	10-K	0000100517-23-000048
10/19/22	09/30/22	10-Q	0000100517-22-000078
07/21/22	06/30/22	10-Q	0000100517-22-000047
04/21/22	03/31/22	10-Q	0000100517-22-000024
02/18/22	12/31/21	10-K	0000100517-22-000009
10/20/21	09/30/21	10-Q	0000100517-21-000072
07/22/21	06/30/21	10-Q	0000100517-21-000055
04/22/21	03/31/21	10-Q	0000100517-21-000026
03/01/21	12/31/20	10-K	0000100517-21-000016
10/15/20	09/30/20	10-Q	0000100517-20-000056
07/22/20	06/30/20	10-Q	0000100517-20-000046
05/04/20	03/31/20	10-Q	0000100517-20-000037
02/25/20	12/31/19	10-K	0000100517-20-000010
10/16/19	09/30/19	10-Q	0000100517-19-000026
07/17/19	06/30/19	10-Q	0000100517-19-000021
04/17/19	03/31/19	10-Q	0000100517-19-000014
02/28/19	12/31/18	10-K	0000100517-19-000009
10/17/18	09/30/18	10-Q	0000100517-18-000028
07/18/18	06/30/18	10-Q	0000100517-18-000012
04/18/18	03/31/18	10-Q	0001193125-18-121112
02/22/18	12/31/17	10-K	0001193125-18-054235
10/19/17	09/30/17	10-Q	0001193125-17-313831
07/19/17	06/30/17	10-Q	0001193125-17-231250
04/18/17	03/31/17	10-Q	0001193125-17-127429
02/23/17	12/31/16	10-K	0001193125-17-054129
10/17/16	09/30/16	10-Q	0001193125-16-739859
07/19/16	06/30/16	10-Q	0001193125-16-651221
04/21/16	03/31/16	10-Q	0001193125-16-550432
02/18/16	12/31/15	10-K	0001193125-16-468479
10/22/15	09/30/15	10-Q	0001193125-15-350093
07/23/15	06/30/15	10-Q	0001193125-15-261239
04/23/15	03/31/15	10-Q	0001193125-15-144255
02/20/15	12/31/14	10-K	0001193125-15-056493
10/23/14	09/30/14	10-Q	0001193125-14-380216
07/24/14	06/30/14	10-Q	0001193125-14-278970
04/24/14	03/31/14	10-Q	0001193125-14-157115
02/20/14	12/31/13	10-K	0001193125-14-060695
10/24/13	09/30/13	10-Q	0001193125-13-409916
07/25/13	06/30/13	10-Q	0001193125-13-302696
04/25/13	03/31/13	10-Q	0001193125-13-173707
02/25/13	12/31/12	10-K	0001193125-13-074391
10/25/12	09/30/12	10-Q	0001193125-12-435658
07/26/12	06/30/12	10-Q	0001193125-12-316988
04/27/12	03/31/12	10-Q	0001193125-12-186734
02/22/12	12/31/11	10-K	0001193125-12-073010
10/27/11	09/30/11	10-Q	0001193125-11-284246
07/26/11	06/30/11	10-Q	0001193125-11-196459
04/21/11	03/31/11	10-Q	0001193125-11-105320
02/22/11	12/31/10	10-K	0001193125-11-042335
10/21/10	09/30/10	10-Q	0001193125-10-233734
07/20/10	06/30/10	10-Q	0001193125-10-161812
04/27/10	03/31/10	10-Q	0001193125-10-094960
02/26/10	12/31/09	10-K	0001193125-10-041523
10/21/09	09/30/09	10-Q	0001140361-09-023635
07/23/09	06/30/09	10-Q	0000950123-09-024435
04/27/09	03/31/09	10-Q	0001362310-09-005843
03/02/09	12/31/08	10-K	0000950137-09-001460
10/24/08	09/30/08	10-Q	0001362310-08-006184
07/24/08	06/30/08	10-Q	0001047469-08-008342
05/09/08	03/31/08	10-Q	0001047469-08-006315
02/29/08	12/31/07	10-K	0001047469-08-001951
10/31/07	09/30/07	10-Q	0000100517-07-000030
07/31/07	06/30/07	10-Q	0000100517-07-000027
05/09/07	03/31/07	10-Q	0001104659-07-037655
03/16/07	12/31/06	10-K	0001104659-07-019919
11/08/06	09/30/06	10-Q	0001104659-06-072339
08/02/06	06/30/06	10-Q	0001104659-06-050400
05/10/06	03/31/06	10-Q	0000100517-06-000031
03/31/06	12/31/05	10-K	0000100517-06-000021
10/09/05	09/30/05	10-Q	0000100517-05-000059
08/09/05	06/30/05	10-Q	0000100517-05-000042
05/11/05	03/31/05	10-Q	0000100517-05-000019
03/16/05	12/31/04	10-K	0000100517-05-000006
11/09/04	09/30/04	10-Q	0000100517-04-000038
08/02/04	06/30/04	10-Q	0000100517-04-000028
04/30/04	03/31/04	10-Q	0000100517-04-000015
03/02/04	12/31/03	10-K	0000100517-04-000007
10/30/03	09/30/03	10-Q	0000100517-03-000075
08/01/03	06/30/03	10-Q	0000100517-03-000041
05/02/03	03/31/03	10-Q	0000100517-03-000015
03/28/03	12/31/02	10-K	0000100517-03-000007
10/25/02	09/30/02	10-Q	0000100517-02-000073
08/14/02	06/30/02	10-Q	0000100517-02-000057
04/29/02	03/31/02	10-Q	0000100517-02-000017
03/08/02	12/31/01	10-K405	0000100517-02-000009
11/13/01	09/30/01	10-Q	0000100517-01-500091
08/09/01	06/30/01	10-Q	0000100517-01-500078
05/14/01	03/31/01	10-Q	0000100517-01-500042
05/09/01	12/31/00	MS10-K	--
11/13/00	09/30/00	10-Q	0000100517-00-500025
08/09/00	06/30/00	10-Q	0000100517-00-000020
05/05/00	03/31/00	10-Q	0000100517-00-000009