We recently published a list of Louis Navellier’s 10 New Stock Picks. In this article, we are going to take a look at where United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) stands against other Louis Navellier’s new stock picks.
Navellier & Associates is an independent money management firm founded in 1987 by renowned growth analyst Louis Navellier. Based in Reno, Nevada, the firm has more than thirty years of experience serving both individual and institutional clients through a disciplined, style-consistent investment approach. The firm’s mission is to maximize returns while managing excessive risk, offering customized portfolio strategies that incorporate a proprietary blend of quantitative and fundamental analysis. Navellier’s investment philosophy centers around identifying and exploiting inefficiencies in the market to uncover high-potential growth stocks. Unlike market indexes and firms that mimic market indexes, Navellier & Associates focuses on outperforming them, resulting in portfolios with low correlation to benchmarks, increased diversification, and reduced risk.
At the heart of Navellier’s investment process is a rigorous three-step, bottom-up stock selection methodology. The first step involves applying a proprietary quantitative screening process to evaluate market and individual stock statistics, specifically measuring reward through alpha and risk through standard deviation. This process narrows the investment options to stocks that rank in the upper percentiles for their risk/reward metrics. In the second step, fundamental analysis is used to identify stocks with exceptional profit margins, robust earnings growth, and forward-looking, reasonable price-to-earnings ratios. Finally, a proprietary optimization model allocates stocks within the portfolio to maximize alpha while minimizing volatility, ensuring that each portfolio is well-diversified across multiple sectors and industries. These strategies are particularly well-suited for long-term investors seeking steady returns in both bull and bear markets.
Louis Navellier himself brings over three decades of expertise to the firm. Since 1980, he has published quantitative research on growth stocks and remains a leading voice in the investment community. As the Founder, Chairman, Chief Investment Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer of Navellier & Associates, he continues to oversee the same portfolios he helped launch. His investment insights have earned him frequent appearances on CNBC, Fox Business News, and regular quotes in leading financial outlets such as Bloomberg and MarketWatch. He has been featured in major publications like Forbes, Fortune, Barron’s, and The Wall Street Journal, and profiled in books such as Secrets of the Investment All-Stars and Investing Under Fire. Today, the firm manages over $1 billion in private and institutional accounts and remains a sought-after resource for high-net-worth individuals and institutions alike.
Navellier & Associates offers tailored portfolio reviews, designed to help clients make sound financial decisions aligned with their preferences, individual goals, and risk tolerance. These reviews include a comprehensive portfolio analysis, risk assessment, and personalized investment recommendations. Portfolios managed by Navellier range from $100,000 to over $100 million, and all recommendations are made on a person-by-person basis. This level of customization underscores the firm’s belief that every investor is unique and deserves a strategy that reflects their personal financial objectives.
In addition to its financial expertise, the Navellier team is composed of passionate professionals who share common interests and life goals with their clients. From hiking and skiing to golfing and parenting, the firm’s staff brings a personal touch to its services, fostering genuine connections with investors. Navellier & Associates is deeply committed to providing not only top-tier financial management but also exceptional client service, innovative investment tools, and cutting-edge market research. With a homegrown foundation and a global outlook, Navellier continues to help clients achieve long-term financial security through disciplined, adaptive, and data-driven investment strategies.
As of its most recent 13F filing for the fourth quarter of 2024, Navellier & Associates reported managing approximately $834 million in securities. The firm’s top ten holdings account for 29.42% of this portfolio, reflecting its concentrated yet carefully optimized investment strategy grounded in systematic analysis and decades of market experience.
Our Methodology
We searched through Navellier & Associates’ Q4 2024 13F filings to identify the new stock picks that the firm invested in during the fourth quarter of the year. From the resultant data, we ranked the equities based on the hedge fund’s stake value in each holding. Additionally, we have mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock using data from 1,009 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A bird’s eye view of a large commercial jetliner taking off from an airport runway.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 86
Navellier & Associates’ Equity Stake: $5.77 Million
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), a major U.S. airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, operates one of the most extensive domestic and international route networks in the world, covering the United States and six continents. As a founding member of the Star Alliance and with regional service provided by independent carriers under the United Express brand, the airline connects more destinations globally than any other. United’s history dates back to the late 1920s, beginning with the establishment of Varney Air Lines in 1926 by Walter Varney, who would later also help found the predecessor to Continental Airlines. Over the decades, United has consistently ranked among the largest airlines globally, largely through strategic mergers and acquisitions that expanded its network and market presence.
In 2024, United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), which operates United Airlines, delivered a strong financial performance, surpassing market expectations and demonstrating operational resilience. For the fourth quarter, the airline posted earnings per share (EPS) of $3.26, exceeding the forecasted $2.93 by 11.3%, and achieved revenue of $14.7 billion, outperforming estimates of $14.34 billion. This solid financial standing was reinforced by operational improvements, resulting in a pre-tax margin of 9.7% in Q4, an increase of 3.5 percentage points year-over-year.
As one of Louis Navellier’s new stock picks, the hedge fund currently owns 59,446 shares in United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), with a stake of $5.77 million.
Looking ahead to 2025, United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) projects EPS growth of approximately 18% at the midpoint, with an expected range between $11.50 and $13.50. The airline plans to expand its fleet with the delivery of 71 new narrowbody and 10 widebody aircraft over the year and expects to have 70% of its aircraft interiors upgraded by the end of 2025. These strategic investments aim to drive greater efficiency, customer satisfaction, and sustained profitability.
Patient Capital Management stated the following regarding United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL) had a strong fourth quarter, gaining 70.2% in the period. The company benefitted from continued strong demand that surprised the market as well as the initiation of a buyback program, the first since COVID. There continues to be strong travel demand from both retail and business travelers. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global air passenger travel is still below the pre-COVID implied trend path despite reaching a new all-time high this year. United’s focus on the customer over the last few years has led to strong improvement in net promoter scores (NPS) which should continue to flow through the model via better TRASM (total revenue per available seat mile) and higher cash flows and earnings. As of today, United alone accounts for ~30% of the overall industry’s profits. We expect this market share to grow and be defensible as we transition to an environment where customer service becomes the differentiating factor, and scale provides unparalleled ability to reinvest in the customer experience.”
Overall, UAL ranks 2nd on our list of Louis Navellier’s new stock picks. While we acknowledge the potential of UAL, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UAL but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.