Should I Buy UAL? UAL 2026 Analysis

Should You Buy United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Conclusion

Buy

Latest Price

104.910

1 Day change

0.84%

52 Week Range

119.210

Analysis Updated At

2026/01/26

United Airlines (UAL) is a good buy for a beginner investor with a long-term strategy and $50,000-$100,000 available for investment. Despite some short-term technical weakness, strong financial performance, positive analyst sentiment, and robust demand trends for 2026 make this stock a solid long-term investment opportunity.

Technical Analysis

The MACD is negatively expanding (-1.217), indicating bearish momentum. RSI is neutral at 33.856, and moving averages are converging, showing no clear trend. The stock is trading near its S2 support level of 106.029, suggesting potential downside risk in the short term.

Options Data

Bearish

Open Interest Put-Call Ratio

Bullish

Option Volume Put-Call Ratio

Technical Summary

Sell

Buy

Positive Catalysts

Strong Q4 financial performance with YoY revenue growth of 4.78%, net income growth of 5.99%, and EPS growth of 7.77%.
Positive analyst sentiment with multiple price target increases and 'Buy' ratings, highlighting strong demand trends and conservative guidance.
Industry recovery and strong demand for premium seating and trans-Atlantic flights.
Robust demand indicators for 2026, with potential for earnings beats.

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Insider selling has increased by 121.33% over the past month, which could indicate caution from company executives.
Severe winter storms have caused significant flight cancellations and delays, potentially impacting short-term performance.
Gross margin dropped by 2.44% YoY in Q4 2025, indicating some cost pressures.

Financial Performance

United Airlines reported strong Q4 2025 financials with revenue of $15.397 billion (+4.78% YoY), net income of $1.044 billion (+5.99% YoY), and EPS of $3.19 (+7.77% YoY). However, gross margin declined to 58.67 (-2.44% YoY).

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

Analysts are overwhelmingly positive on UAL, with multiple price target increases (ranging from $130 to $153) and consistent 'Buy' ratings. Analysts highlight strong demand trends, premium revenue growth, and conservative guidance, which could lead to earnings beats in 2026.

16 Analyst Rating

Wall Street analysts forecast UAL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for UAL is 139.07 USD with a low forecast of 115 USD and a high forecast of 156 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.

15 Buy

1 Hold

0 Sell

Strong Buy

Current: 104.040

Low

115

Averages

139.07

High

156

Current: 104.040

Low

115

Averages

139.07

High

156

Bernstein

Outperform

maintain

$129 -> $136

AI Analysis

2026-01-27

New

Reason

Bernstein

Price Target

$129 -> $136

AI Analysis

2026-01-27

New

maintain

Outperform

Reason

Bernstein raised the firm's price target on United Airlines to $136 from $129 and keeps an Outperform rating on the shares. The firm notes the company delivered a solid Q4 2025 beat, Q1 2026 raise, and in-line FY26 guide with bullish commentary implying the guide is quite conservative. Bernstein expects to see United coming in at the high-end of the guide.

BofA

Andrew Didora

Buy

maintain

$130 -> $145

2026-01-23

Reason

BofA

Andrew Didora

Price Target

$130 -> $145

2026-01-23

maintain

Buy

Reason

BofA analyst Andrew Didora raised the firm's price target on United Airlines (UAL) to $145 from $130 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Q4 results and the call "echoed similar themes" to Delta (DAL) last week, with premium revenues leading, demand trends improving, and guidance remaining conservative given last year's industry volatility, the analyst tells investors. The firm raised its Q1 EPS view to $1.30 from $1.08, just above the $1.25 guidance midpoint, while its 2026 EPS estimate is raised to $13.25 from $13.08 with a strong demand start to 2026.

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UAL Should I Buy

UAL Should I Buy

Should You Buy United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) Today? Analysis, Price Targets, and 2026 Outlook.

Technical Analysis

Options Data

Technical Summary

Positive Catalysts

Neutral/Negative Catalysts

Financial Performance

Growth

Profitability

Efficiency

Analyst Ratings and Price Target Trends

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