Yahoo Finance Airline Stock Roundup: DAL's Q2 Earnings Beat, GOL's June Traffic & More
On Jul 13, Delta Air Lines DAL initiated the second-quarter 2023 earnings season for the airline space. This Atlanta-based carrier reported better-than-expected earnings per share and revenues driven by the buoyant air-travel demand scenario. Moreover, the company lifted its earnings per share guidance for the current year.
The company now expects 2023 earnings (on an adjusted basis) in the band of $6-$7 per share (the earlier view was $6 per share). Driven by the upbeat air-travel demand scenario, Latin American carriers Gol Linhas GOL, Copa Holdings CPA and Azul AZUL reported impressive traffic numbers for the month of June.
Recap of the Past Week’s Most Important Stories
1. Delta’s second-quarter 2023 earnings (excluding 16 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.68 per share comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.42. DAL had reported earnings of $1.44 per share a year ago as air travel demand was not so buoyant back then. Revenues of $15,578 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14,991.6 million. Total revenues increased 12.69% on a year-over-year basis driven by higher air travel demand.
Backed by strong booking trends for summer, DAL, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), expects September-quarter revenues (adjusted) to increase in the 11-14% band from third-quarter 2022 actuals. Third-quarter earnings are expected in the range of $2.2-$2.5 per share.
Delta was also in the news recently courtesy of its deal with El Al Israel Airlines. The news was covered in detail in the previous week’s write-up.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
2. In June, consolidated revenue passenger kilometers (a measure of air traffic) and available seat kilometers (a measure of capacity) increased 14% and 15.4%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis at GOL. The load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) was 75.7%. The number of flight departures at GOL in June registered a 20.8% year-over-year increase. Passengers on board rose 21% year over year on a consolidated basis.
3. In June, Azul’s consolidated revenue passenger kilometers and available seat kilometers increased 15% and 12.6%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. With consolidated passenger traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, the load factor (the percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 80.9% from 79.3% in June 2022.
On the domestic front, with revenue passenger kilometers (2%) outpacing available seat kilometers (0.6%), the load factor increased to 79.1% from 78% in June 2022. Internationally, revenue passenger kilometers and available seat kilometers increased 92.8% and 94.2%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. The load factor was 87.3%.
Azul’s chief executive officer, John Rodgerson, stated, “In June, our rational domestic capacity deployment combined with a strong international demand led us to increase our load factor in a healthy revenue environment. I’m very excited for the strongest seasonal period ahead of us.”
4. Copa Holdings’ revenue passenger miles and available seat miles increased 14.9% and 10.7%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis in June. With traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, the load factor improved to 86.8% from 83.7% in the prior month.
Price Performance
The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the past six months.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The table above shows that the majority of the airline stocks traded in the green over the past week. Consequently, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index increased 1.5% over the past week to $77.28. Over the course of the past six months, the sector tracker has surged 22.5%.
What's Next in the Airline Space?
Investors are looking forward to the second-quarter 2023 earnings report of United Airlines UAL, scheduled to be out on Jul 19.
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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
AZUL (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
