In This Article:
On Jan. 10, Delta Air Lines DAL kicked off the fourth-quarter 2024 earnings season for airlines on a bright note, reporting better-than-expected earnings per share and revenues. The airline issued a strong outlook for 2025. DAL shares hit a 52-week high on that day. Southwest Airlines LUV announced a pause on corporate hiring in a bid to cut costs.
Copa Holdings CPA reported impressive traffic numbers for December driven by upbeat air travel demand. An expansion-related update was available from Alaska Airlines in the past week. Alaska Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alaska Air Group ALK.
Recap of the Recent Most Important Stories
1. Delta reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 56 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.85 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.76. Earnings increased 44.5% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs. Revenues of $15.56 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.99 billion and increased 9.4% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong holiday travel demand. Delta, currently carrying a Zack Rank #2 (Buy), expects first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings to be 70 cents-$1 per share. The company’s CEO, Ed Bastian, expects 2025 to be the carrier’s best. Delta expects current-year adjusted earnings to be more than $7.35 per share.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
2. At Copa Holdings, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) for the month of December increased 6.5% year over year. Revenue passenger miles increased 6.8% year over year. Since traffic outpaced capacity expansion, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) rose to 85.3% from 85.1% in December 2023.
3. To reduce costs and boost profit margins, Southwest Airlines has hit the pause button for corporate hiring. This Dallas-based airline has also decided to suspend promotions and its summer internship program and eliminate some employee team-building events for the same purpose.
LUV had recently inked a deal with Babcock & Brown Aircraft Management to sell and lease back 36 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in its fleet to raise cash. The news was covered in detail in the last week’s write-up.
4. Alaska Airlines has decided to add a new daily, nonstop flight connecting Portland and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston from May 15. The airline has also decided to resume twice-daily nonstop service between Portland and Eugene, OR. The airline will start a new route between San Diego and Medford, OR. All three routes will fly year-round.