GOL Linhas (GOL) Gains 20% Year to Date: More Upside Ahead?

GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes GOL has had an impressive run on the bourses so far this year on the back of the tailwinds like healthy demand for air travel, capacity discipline and improving yields. Evidently, shares of this Brazilian carrier have gained 20.1%, outperforming its industry’s 7.3% growth on a year-to-date basis.

Let's delve deep to unearth the reasons behind the company's impressive price performance and find out if there is room for further appreciation:

GOL Linhas is being aided by strong demand for air travel. As a result of the robust demand, passenger revenues, which accounts for the bulk of the top line, increased 21.2% in the first half of 2019. Also, yield (average fare paid per mile, per passenger) increased 11.4% during the same period, providing a further boost to passenger revenues.

Moreover, consolidated load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) has improved 280 basis points to 82.2% in the first eight months of 2019 as traffic growth (9.5%) outpaced capacity expansion (5.8%), reflecting the company's focus on capacity discipline.

Additionally, this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company’s performance, with respect to unit revenues in the first half of the year, was impressive. While net passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASK) surged 14.7%, revenue per available seat mile (RASK) increased 13%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the third quarter of 2019, GOL Linhas, which competes with the likes of Copa Holdings CPA, Azul AZUL and LATAM Airlines LTM in the Latin American aviation space, anticipates revenue per ASK (RASK) to rise between 11% and 13% on the back of upbeat demand.

In fact, the above-mentioned tailwinds are expected to consistently favor GOL Linhas throughout 2019.

Apparently, the company raised its 2019 earnings and revenues projections in August. It now expects net revenues of R$13.5 billion compared with the earlier projection of R$13 billion. Earnings per share are now projected in the 80-95 cents range compared with 70-90 cents anticipated earlier.

Upward Estimate Revisions & Solid Growth Projections

GOL Linhas’ earnings estimates reflect a healthy uptrend. Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter and year earnings has been revised 30% and 59.7% upward, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GOL Linhas’ 2019 earnings is currently pegged at $1.07, indicating growth in excess of 100% from the year-ago reported figure. The same for 2020 stands at $1.41, mirroring a year-over-year improvement of 31.5%.

The projection with respect to the top line is also impressive. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the Latin American carrier’s 2019 sales is currently pegged at $3.60 billion, suggesting a 14.5% improvement from the figure reported a year ago. The same for 2020 is pinned at $3.93 billion, reflecting a 9.3% rise year over year.

GOL Linhas’ VGM Score of A further highlights its attractiveness. Here, V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of all three scores.

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Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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AZUL SA (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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