Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA, the parent company of Hawaiian Airlines, Inc., reported first-quarter 2015 financial numbers with earnings per share of 38 cents surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 33 cents.
Hawaiian Holdings Inc. - Earnings Surprise | FindTheCompany
Quarterly revenues increased 2.9% year over year to $540.3 million and were also above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $534 million.
Operating Statistics
Airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, moved up 3.5% year over year to 3,345 million in the first quarter. Capacity or available seat miles increased 4.7% to 4,227 million, while load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers) stood at 79.1% against 80% recorded in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) fell 4.3% year over year to 11.1 cents.
Operating Expenses & Income
In the first quarter of 2015, operating income stood at $71.2 million against $10 million in the last-year quarter. Total operating expenses fell 8.9% year over year to $469.1 million owing to a drop in fuel price. Fuel price (economic) stood at $2.21 per gallon, down from $3.10 in the year-ago quarter. Operating cost per available seat mile (CASM) declined 13% year over year to 11.09 cents.
Liquidity
At the end of the first quarter of 2015, Hawaiian Airlines had $488 million and $962 million of cash, short-term investment and long-term debt, respectively. The company has also announced a buyback program worth $100 million.
Outlook
For 2015, the company expects CASM, exclusive of fuel, to increase in the range of 1% to 4% from last year while ASM for current fiscal will likely rise by 3% to 6% from 2014. Likewise, jet fuel consumption is projected to rise 1% to 4% from last year while fuel price (economic) per gallon is expected to be in the range of $2.10–$2.20.
For the second quarter of 2015, CASM, exclusive of fuel, is expected to inch up 0.5% to 3.5% from the last-year quarter. Meanwhile, ASM will likely rise between 3% and 5% from 4,262.8 million recorded in the second quarter of 2014.
Key Picks
Hawaiian Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other favorably-ranked stocks in the same industry include Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU and Ryder System Inc. R. All three carry a Zacks Rank #2.
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