Analyst Reiterates Buy Rating For Continental Airlines (CAL)

Jesup & Lamont analyst Helane Becker reiterated her Buy rating for Continental Airlines, Inc. (NYSE: CAL) because most of the airline's reported financial numbers fell in line with Jesup & Lamont's earlier forecasts.

Continental Airlines reported that its January traffic grew by 8.6% as capacity grew by 3.1%, so that its load factor grew by 4% to 78%.

Mainline unit revenue fell by 3% and consolidated load factor increased 4% to reach 77.2%.

Jet fuel cost per gallon was still the estimated $2.10 per gallon.

"These numbers were exactly in line with our expectations, so there are no changes to our first quarter EPS estimate at this time," wrote Becker.

Becker's target price for Continental Airlines is $22.