Airlines have had a big week, few more so than United Continental Holdings (NYSE: UAL). In the first earnings report since the closing of their multibillion-dollar merger, the combined operations of these carriers showed improvement in every area that matters.

Investors took notice. After soaring in anticipation the day before, shares of UAL climbed 0.6% yesterday after reporting revenue and earnings that didn't quite meet the Street's expectations:

Metric

Estimate

Actual

Year-Ago

Revenue

$5,910 million

$5,394 million

$4,433 million

Per-share earnings

$2.16

$2.12

($0.41)

Gross margin

Not available

42.9%

17.1%

Free cash flow

Not available

$357 million

($4 million)

Sources: Yahoo! Finance and Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.

Fools can be forgiven for thinking these results are disappointing. Comparatively, they are. American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) blew away estimates when it reported its first quarterly profit in two years. Delta (NYSE: DAL), meanwhile, reported higher loads, filling its aircraft to 85.9% of capacity during the just-completed quarter.

But give UAL credit. Cash flow is the lifeblood of any capital-intensive business, and United Continental is finally producing some. Return on capital also rose to 23%. I'll grant that history says investors should avoid airlines, but if United Continental keeps putting up numbers like these, the stock will eventually follow.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Do you like United Continental at these levels? Share your thoughts in the comments box below. You can also click here to rate the stock in our free Motley Fool CAPS investor intelligence database.

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