The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Southwest Airlines, United Continental Holdings, American Airlines Group, Gol Linhas Aereas and Hawaiian Holdings
For Immediate Release
Chicago, IL – November 13, 2014 – 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 the Southwest Airlines (LUV-Free Report), United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL-Free Report), American Airlines Group (AAL-Free Report), Gol Linhas Aereas SA (GOL-Free Report) and Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA-Free Report).
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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:
Airline Stock Roundup
Over the past 5 trading days, major airline stocks continued their northward movement. Most of the carriers grossed attention during the period with their October traffic releases.
While companies like Southwest Airlines (LUV-Free Report), Hawaiian Airlines came up with healthy rise in traffic, data released by other carriers such as United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL-Free Report) and American Airlines Group (AAL-Free Report) was subdued. American Airlines was also in the headlines due to the rejection of the 5-year labor contract by its flight attendants.
There was not much activity on the earnings front with most companies having already reported their quarterly results. Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aereas SA (GOL-Free Report) was the sole major player in the field to report financial results during the last 5 trading days. The company performed disappointingly in the third quarter – reporting a wider than expected loss
Airline stocks have bounced back impressively after being battered in September and early October due to Ebola related worries aided by healthy earnings reports and falling oil prices (See the last ‘Airline Stock Roundup’ here: Sinking Fuel Costs Support Carriers, Hawaiian Holdings Gains Among Others).
Recap of Most Important Stories of the Last Five Trading Days
1. Hawaiian Airlines, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA-Free Report), transported 860,260 passengers in October, up 4.6% year over year. The airline was also awarded the highest rank among 16 largest national carriers, by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT.V), for on-time performance in the month of September. The carrier also received DOT’s top rank for punctuality (read more: Hawaiian Airlines Reveals Impressive October Traffic Data).
2. Flight attendants at American Airlines Group voted down a joint five-year labor contract, which would have covered approximately 24,000 stewards of American Airlines and U.S. Airways, by a narrow margin. The rejected tentative agreement covered guaranteed pay raises but did not include a profit-sharing plan. With the contract rejected, an arbitrator will now decide the terms of the new agreement. The first arbitration meeting is scheduled to be held on Dec 3, 2014 (read more: American Airlines Crew Votes Against 5-Year Labor Contract).
American Airlines also reported traffic data for October. Revenue per miles (RPMs) came in at 17.9 billion for the month, up 0.2% year over year. Capacity increased 0.5% to 21.8 billion. Load factor came in at 82.2%, down 0.3% from the year-ago figure. The company still projects the consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile for the final quarter of 2014 to be approximately flat to up 2%.
3. Southwest Airlines revealed a healthy rise in October traffic aided by improved capacity. The company expects to increase capacity further by 6% in 2015. The stock gained buoyed by these positives. On the other hand, United Continental Holdings showed only a modest increase in its traffic numbers in the same month (read more: United Continental, Southwest Airlines October Traffic Rises).
4. GOL reported third-quarter 2014 net loss per share of approximately 14 cents, which compared unfavorably with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 9 cents due to increased costs. The loss, however, narrowed from the year-ago loss of 31 cents per share. A decline in domestic supply hurt the quarterly numbers. Net revenue increased 10.4% year over year to R$2,461.7 million (approximately $960 million), missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $962 million by a small margin.
Today, Zacks is promoting its ''Buy'' stock recommendations. Get #1Stock of the Day pick for free.
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