United Air shares gain the most in 1 ½ weeks on Friday, 737 MAX to stay off company’s flight schedule until November 3rd

According to an announcement by United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL) on Friday, its Boeing 737 MAX jets are to remain off its flight schedule until November 3rd, as global grounding continues. This would result in 2 100 flights canceled in September and 2 900 cancellations in October, the company said.

Previously, the air carrier had put its 14 MAX aircraft off its flight schedule until the beginning of September.

United Air shares closed higher for the ninth time in the past sixteen trading sessions on NASDAQ on Friday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since July 3rd. The stock went up 1.96% ($1.75) to $91.23, after touching an intraday high at $91.55, or a price level not seen since December 7th 2018 ($92.65).

Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc have risen 8.96% so far in 2019 compared with a 20.22% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, United Air’s stock went up 24.23%, thus, it outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

“We’ll continue to monitor the regulatory process and nimbly make the necessary adjustments to our operation and our schedule,” United Air said in a statement, cited by Reuters.

United officials have already said that once the grounding order is lifted by regulators, every jet will probably need 100 to 150 hours of maintenance preparation before going back in the air along with new pilot training.

Measures such as a 737 MAX software upgrade and new pilot training are expected to increase protection to prevent erroneous data from activating the jets MCAS system, which was triggered in both 737 MAX 8 planes involved in the two recent incidents – the crash southeast of Addis Ababa in March and the crash in the Java Sea in October 2018.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 18 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding United Air’s stock price, have a median target of $107.00, with a high estimate of $140.00 and a low estimate of $81.00. The median estimate represents a 17.29% upside compared to the closing price of $91.23 on July 12th.

The same media also reported that at least 13 out of 21 surveyed investment analysts had rated United Air’s stock as “Buy”, while 6 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.