The company said it would implement changes to flight operations
United Airlines Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:UAL) stock is up 0.2% at $54.98 at last check, despite the company seeing more flight cancellations and delays than its peers Friday, due to bad weather ahead heavy Fourth of July travel. CEO Scott Kirby noted the airline would implement changes in flight operations to avoid more disruptions.
On the charts, UAL pulled back from a June 28, two-year high of $56.97; however, long-term support at the 20-day moving average is keeping price action in check. Year-to-date, United Airlines stock is still up 44.7%.
Short interest pivoted lower over the most recent reporting period, losing 17.3%. Still, the 17.58 million shares sold short account for 5.4% of the security's available float, or nearly three days worth of pent-up buying power.
Options traders are much more bullish than usual. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 3.54 sits higher than 96% of readings from the past 12 months.
Options traders are pricing in extremely low volatility expectations at the moment. This is per United Airlines stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 38% that stands in the 8th percentile of its annual range.