United Airlines Parent's Stock Climbs After Streak Of Profit Beats Extended

Shares of United Airlines parent United Continental Holdings Inc. climbed 0.6% in premarket trade Tuesday, after the air carrier extended its streak of earnings beats to five quarters. In the company's first-quarter earnings report, Chief Executive Oscar Munoz said the incident earlier this month in which a passenger was forcibly dragged off the plane will prove to be a "watershed moment" for the company, making him more determined than ever to put customers first. Analyst Savanthi Syth at Raymond James reiterated his outperform rating, but said he will look for further clarity on any expected impact from the recent negative media attention for current-quarter trends in the company's conference call with analysts, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET. Late Monday, United reported first-quarter adjusted EPS of 41 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 38 cents, and revenue of $8.42 billion, which beat expectations of $8.38 billion. The stock has lost 2.9% year to date through Monday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index has tacked on 0.4% and the S&P 500 has gained 4.9%.