United Air shares close lower on Thursday, company reports a 7% growth in December traffic

United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL) reported earlier this week that its total revenue passenger miles (RPMs) rose 6.9% year-on-year to 19.329 billion last month, supported by a 5.5% growth in domestic RPMs and an 8.9% increase in international RPMs.

United Air shares closed lower for the third time in the past nine trading sessions on NASDAQ on Thursday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since January 3rd. The stock went down 2.85% ($2.39) to $81.37, after touching an intraday low at $77.42, or a price level not seen since July 18th 2018 ($75.56).

Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc have retreated 2.82% so far in 2019 compared with a 3.58% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, United Air’s stock went up 24.23%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

The company also said that its capacity grew 6.4% year-on-year to 23.372 billion available seat miles (ASMs) in December, as domestic ASMs rose 6.6%, while international ASMs increased 6.2% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, United Air’s passenger load factor increased 40 basis points to 82.7% in December compared to the same month a year earlier.

The number of passengers carried rose 6.0% to 13.192 million in December from a year ago.

According to CNN Money, the 18 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding United Air’s stock price, have a median target of $104.50, with a high estimate of $130.00 and a low estimate of $87.00. The median estimate represents a 28.43% upside compared to the closing price of $81.37 on January 10th.

The same media also reported that 10 out of 21 surveyed investment analysts had rated United Air’s stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $81.89
R1 – $85.40
R2 – $88.12
R3 – $91.63
R4 – $95.14

S1 – $79.17
S2 – $75.66
S3 – $72.94
S4 – $70.22