UAL

United keeps grinding out the post-COVID recovery: FY2025 revenue rose 3.5% to $59.1B and net income climbed 6.5% to $3.35B — the fifth straight step up from the -$1.96B loss in FY2021. Diluted EPS of $10.20 (+7.9%) got a lift from a shrinking share count (shares -1.2%, buybacks $637M, +293%), and reported ROE is a punchy 21.9%. The balance sheet is the real bright spot: long-term debt fell 20.8% to $17.2B, equity rose 20.6% to $15.3B, and retained earnings jumped 46.7% to $10.1B. This is a genuine deleveraging story.

But the quality of the FY2025 result is softer than the headline. Operating income actually fell 7.5% to $4.71B even as revenue grew — costs outran the top line, and operating margin is just 8.0% (net margin 5.7%), the thin, cyclical economics typical of an airline. Cash generation weakened too: operating cash flow dropped 10.7% to $8.43B while capex rose 4.6% to $5.87B, leaving roughly $2.6B of free cash flow. Liquidity is tightening — cash fell 32.2% to $5.94B, current assets ($16.9B) sit well below current liabilities ($26.1B) for a ~0.65 current ratio, and the current portion of debt jumped 37.8% to $4.10B.