United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) offered a lift to airline stocks on Thursday after announcing late Wednesday that its passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased by 3.5% in the second quarter. That exceeded the top-end of 3% from its previous forecast. United also said available seat miles in June increased 0.8% year-over-year, while consolidated load factor fell 0.6 point to 87.1% for the month.

Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) also said on Wednesday that it expects the growth in its PRASM to be greater than 8%, relative to the second quarter of last year. And American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) said its second-quarter PRASM growth is expected to be between 5.5% and 6.5%.

United Continental shares were up more than 11% in the noon hour Thursday to $44.55, in a 52-week range of $27.32 to $49.20. American shares were up more than 2% to $42.94, while Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) shares were almost 2% higher in early trading to $37.63.

Shares of the four airlines featured here had been sliding in the past month, with United leading the way there too with a pullback of about 16%. Some analysts have seen the recent pullback as an inviting entry point for airline stocks, and we wondered recently whether Southwest had become the best airline stock for investors. It now has less than 6% upside potential, if the consensus mean target is to be believed. Note though that United has more than 16% upside potential, if the analysts are correct.

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