Yahoo Finance The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights American Airlines, Gol Linhas, Azul, Ryanair Holdings and JetBlue Airways
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – April 14, 2023 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: American Airlines' AAL, Gol Linhas GOL, Azul AZUL, Ryanair Holdings' RYAAY and JetBlue Airways JBLU.
Here are highlights from Thursday’s Analyst Blog:
Airline Stock Roundup: Q1 Earnings Forecasts and Expansion Updates
In the past week, American Airlines' management gave an updated outlook for first-quarter 2023. AAL's results are likely to be hurt by higher costs. Latin American carriers, Gol Linhas and Azul also grabbed headlines, courtesy of their respective March traffic numbers. Upbeat air travel demand aided the traffic reports.
European carrier, Ryanair Holdings' March traffic numbers were also aided by the rise in air travel demand. Meanwhile, an expansion-related update was available from JetBlue Airways in the past week.
Read the last Airline Roundup here.
Recap of the Latest Top Stories
1 Driven by soaring demand on healthy bookings, AAL's management expects first-quarter 2023 TRASM to be 25.5% higher than the first-quarter 2022 actuals. This is at the mid-point of the 24-27% uptick expected previously. AAL, currently sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), expects system capacity for the March-end quarter to increase 9.2% from the figure reported in first-quarter 2022, which again is at the mid-point of the 8-10% uptick expected previously.
Fuel cost per gallon in first-quarter 2023 is now expected to be in the $3.27-$3.32 range (earlier guidance: $3.33-$3.38). Fuel gallon consumption is now expected to be $970 million in first-quarter 2023, higher than $955 million expected previously. The company continues to expect total non-operating expenses of $415 million for the March-end quarter. CASM, excluding fuel and special items, is now expected to decrease 1.5% in the first quarter of 2023 from the figure reported in first-quarter 2022 (earlier guidance: flat to down 3%).
The adjusted operating margin in the March-end quarter is anticipated to be 3.5% (earlier guidance: 2.5-4.5%). AAL now expects the March-end quarter's earnings per share (excluding net special items) to be in the 1-5 cents range (earlier guidance called for breakeven earnings). The mid-point of the revised guidance is in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 3 cents. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank tocks here
2. The number of passengers ferried on RYAAY flights in March was an impressive 12.6 million. This compared favorably with the year-ago figure of 11.2 million. Load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) was 93% in March 2023 compared with 87% a year ago. Ryanair expects its traffic in fiscal 2023 to be 168 million, indicating 13% growth from pre-COVID traffic numbers.
3. Driven by the improvement in air travel demand, Gol Linhas reported healthy traffic data for March. The number of passengers ferried on Gol flights in March registered a 22.3% year-over-year increase. The consolidated load factor was 82.3% in March 2023 compared with 29.5% a year ago. Load factor increased as consolidated traffic growth of 17.2% in the month was more than the capacity expansion (also on a consolidated basis) of 13.3%. Domestic departures, which accounted for more than 95% of total departures during the month, have grown 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On the domestic front, the number of seats increased 17.1% in March.
4. At Azul, consolidated revenue passenger kilometers, a measure of air traffic, showed an increase of 8.1% for March 2023 compared with the year-ago reported figure. The company's various codeshare agreements have helped increase international air traffic by 89.7% compared with the year-ago figure. A 9.4% increase in capacity has resulted in the load factor being at 77.8% for the reported period.
5. JetBlue, in coordination with Massachusetts Port Authority, announced two new routes from Worcester Regional Airport in Massachusetts to attract additional traffic. One of these is a seasonal service from Worcester, MA, to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, FL. Flights (non-stop) on this route will be operational from Jan 4, 2024. The other route will be operating from Worcester, MA to Orlando Sanford International Airport. Flights to Orlando, which stopped during the pandemic, will resume operation from Jun 15.
Performance
Most airline stocks have traded in the green over the last five trading days. The NYSE ARCA Airline Index has increased 3.6% to $58.47, led by a double-digit gain at Gol Linhas. Over the course of the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has gained 12.2%.
What's Next in the Airline Space?
Stay tuned for first-quarter 2023 earnings reports of various airlines.
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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.
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Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
AZUL (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
