Daily newsletter · Thu 22 Oct 2026
United Airlines rose 3.99% as passengers kept paying higher fares
United Airlines rose 3.99% on Wednesday to US$101.67, the day after its results. Revenue in the September quarter was a record US$17.9 billion, up 17.4% on a year earlier.
Fuel is why fares are going up. United paid an average of US$3.90 a gallon for jet fuel in the quarter. Its fuel bill rose by US$1.8 billion, or 61.6%, from a year earlier.
The airline says it won back 72% of that extra cost through higher fares, and expects to recover all of it with a lag. Chief executive Scott Kirby argued that because costs have risen for every airline, every airline has to charge more.
The oil price is not helping. Attacks on Saudi oil sites have kept Brent crude, the global benchmark, near US$109 a barrel. United expects to pay about US$4.80 a gallon in the December quarter.
Even so, United expects December-quarter revenue to grow by more than 20%, another record. It expects earnings of between 50 US cents and US$1.50 a share, against US$2.54 in the September quarter.
fuel at US$4.80 is 23% dearer than last quarter, and that is a lot to pass on to passengers. United still targets double-digit pre-tax margins in 2027, up from 7.3% this quarter. Our read is that the target depends on bookings holding up at these fares into the new year.
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