In the past week, Alaska Air Group ALK and SkyWest SKYW reported better-than-expected earnings per share and revenues for the third quarter of 2024. SkyWest also inked a fleet-related deal with United Airlines UAL. ALK’s quarterly results included almost 13 days of Hawaiian Airlines’ results, which was acquired on Sept.18.
Allegiant Travel Company ALGT reported a wider-than-expected loss in the third quarter of 2024 due to high costs. European carrier Ryanair Holdings’ RYAAY results were hurt by high costs as well. RYAAY reported lower-than-expected earnings and revenues in second-quarter fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 30, 2024).
Read the Last Airline Roundup here
Recap of the Recent Most Important Stories
1. Alaska Air’s third-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $2.25 outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.20 and improved 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Operating revenues of $3.07 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.98 billion. The top line jumped 8% year over year, with passenger revenues accounting for 91.8% of the top line and increasing 8% on continued air-travel demand recovery.
Passenger revenues totaled $2.82 billion in the reported quarter. On a year-over-year basis, cargo and other revenues of $80 million grew 29%. ALK anticipates fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted EPS between 20 cents and 40 cents.
ALK currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
2. SkyWest reported third-quarter 2024 earnings of $2.16, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 and surging more than 100% year over year. Revenues of $912.8 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $887.5 million and grew 19.1% year over year due to flying contract rate increases. Additionally, SKYW had $19 million of deferred revenues in the reported quarter under its flying contracts.
Revenues from flying agreements (contributing 96.7% to the top line) grew 19.1% year over year to $883.5 million The airline carried 10.3% more passengers in the reported quarter on a year-over-year basis. Departures grew 11.8% year over year. SkyWest also announced that it inked a deal with United Airlines to place 40 CRJ550s under a multi-year contract. Per the deal, SKYW will purchase 11 used CRJ550s and convert 29 of its CRJ700s to CRJ550s.
3. Ryanair’s earnings per share of $2.82 lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.92 and declined year over year in second-quarter fiscal 2025. Revenues of $5.56 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.59 billion. However, the top line improved year over year.
RYAAY’s profit after tax decreased 6% year over year. Traffic grew 9% . Ryanair expects its fiscal 2025 traffic to grow 8.
4. Allegiant reported a third-quarter 2024 loss of $2.02 per share (excluding three cents from non-recurring items), wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.85. The company had reported earnings of 9 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
Operating revenues of $562.2 million marginally surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $561.2 million. However, the top line fell 0.6% on a year-over-year basis. For the fourth quarter of 2024, Available Seat Miles or ASM (for scheduled service) are expected to increase 1.5% year over year, and total system ASM is projected to rise 1.5%.
Performance
The following table shows the price movements of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The NYSE ARCA Airline Index increased 5% to $71.23 over the past five trading days, as all stocks in the table above traded in the green. Over the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index rose 16%.
What’s Next in the Airline Space?
With the current earnings season almost over for airlines, a handful of carriers are left to report their financial numbers. On the non-earnings front, a few October traffic reports are expected in the coming days.
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Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
