Following a strong first-quarter earnings report, United Airlines saw its stock jump 14% on Wednesday. Investors were also intrigued by the company’s optimistic projections for Q2.
United Airlines reported a pre-tax loss of $164 million as well as an adjusted loss of 15 cents per share, which was a lot better compared to the predictions of analysts, who expected 54 cents per share. The company believes the first quarter would be profitable if it weren’t for the $200 million impact that was caused by the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9 after Alaska Airlines experienced an incident with the same model.
The airliner also surpassed the expectations of analysts with $12.5 billion in operating revenue, which represents a 9.7% increase compared to the same period last year. The projections were that United Airlines will have $12.45 billion in revenue for the period.
United Airlines now projects a profit of $3.75 to $4.25 per share for the Q2 compared to Wall Street expectations of $3.76 profit per share.
After closing at $41.50 per share on Tuesday, the United Airlines stock rallied in after-market trading. It opened at $44.39 per share on Wednesday and continued its climb to $47.60 at one point. This is the highest the company’s shares have been in April.