PREVIEW: UAL shares tumble; Street sees Q4 rev rise, EPS drop y/y

United Airlines UAL.O shares down ~4% on Tuesday, underperforming the 2.5% drop in the Dow Jones Transport Average index .DJT in broader market selloff with quarterly results due out after market close

UAL, which has scheduled its investor calls for Wednesday morning, is expected to report Q4 adj EPS of $2.94 down from $3.26 in year-ago quarter on revenue of $15.4 bln, up from $14.7 bln in Q4 2024, according to latest data from LSEG

In the last 8 quarters, EPS beat Street expectations every time while revenue beat just 4 times

Trading in airline shares, including UAL has been weak since rival Delta's DAL.N forecast disappointed investors. But potentially helping the sector, the U.S. Transportation Department proposed earlier this month to deemphasize imposing civil fines on airlines that violate consumer protection rules and to drop Biden-era policies that toughened enforcement.

UAL shares last traded at $108.69 vs median PT of $132.50, according to LSEG, which shows 26 analyst ratings: 6 'strong buy,' 17 'buy' and 3 'hold'

YTD shares in UAL down 2.8% vs gain of 2.4% for DJT and 0.7% drop for the S&P 500 .SPX