United Airlines to 'capitalise on opportunity only $UAL has' after Q1 earnings

United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: UAL) is trending up in extended hours on Tuesday after reporting better-than-expected financial results for its first quarter as the "demand environment remained strong".

United Airlines stock pops on upbeat guidance

Shares of the air carrier are in the green in after-hours also because its management issued upbeat guidance for the future. $UAL now forecasts its per-share earnings to fall between $3.75 and $4.25 in Q2.

Analysts, in comparison, were at $3.73 a share. Scott Kirby – the chief executive of United Airlines said in a press release today:

The Nasdaq-listed airline improved capacity by 9.1% and achieved second-best on-time departure performance in its first financial quarter. United Airlines stock is now up more than 15% versus its year-to-date low.

United Airlines Q1 earnings snapshot

• Lost $124 million versus the year-ago $194 million
• Per-share loss also narrowed from 59 cents to 38 cents
• Adjusted loss printed at 15 cents as per the earnings report
• Revenue jumped 10% year-over-year to $12.53 billion
• Consensus was 58 cents a share on $12.45 billion revenue

United Airlines blamed ongoing issues at Boeing for its loss in the first quarter. CEO Kirby added on Tuesday:

Wall Street currently has a consensus "overweight" rating on $UAL. Peer Delta Air Lines also touted solid travel demand as it reported its Q1 financial results last week.