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JetBlue (JBLU) Gains on August Traffic Growth; CFO Resigns
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JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU - Free Report) recently posted a significant increase in traffic for August. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – a measure of traffic – climbed 6.2% on a year-over-year basis to 4.21 billion. Average seat miles (ASMs) – a measure of capacity – climbed 5.7% to 4.82 billion in Aug 2016.
Load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) climbed 40 basis points to 87.4% in the month as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion.
The number of departures during Aug 2016 grew 4.4%. The low-cost carrier registered a completion factor of 98.7%, with 73% of its flights on schedule. JetBlue’s preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) dropped roughly 5.5% year over year in August. For the first eight months of 2016, JetBlue witnessed a 10.5% increase in RPMs to 31.0 billion and a 10.6% rise in ASMs to 36.3 billion, both on a year-over-year basis. However, load factor declined 10 basis points to 85.4% in the month.
Third-Quarter Guidance
JetBlue expects RASM for the third quarter to decline 3–4% year over year. This marks an improvement from the 8.2% decline witnessed in the second quarter. The company maintained its third-quarter guidance for capacity growth in the band of 5.5–7.5%. Capacity for 2016 is still projected to increase in the range of 8% to 9.5%. We expect the company’s capacity expansion plans to boost top-line growth. Load factor improvement and better RASM view than the second-quarter performance can be attributed to the 2.44% rise in stock price on Sep 13.
CFO Resigns
JetBlue announced that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and executive vice president Mark Powers will retire on Nov 1, 2016. After his retirement, Powers will remain associated with the company as an advisor for a year. The company’s current Vice President and treasurer, Jim Leddy, will assume the role of interim CFO, subject to approval by the company’s board of directors.
JetBlue currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock from the same industry is Copa Holdings SA (CPA - Free Report) with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Some other well-ranked stocks in the airline space include ANA Holdings Inc. (ALNPY - Free Report) and SkyWest Inc. (SKYW - Free Report) . Both these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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JetBlue (JBLU) Gains on August Traffic Growth; CFO Resigns
JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU - Free Report) recently posted a significant increase in traffic for August. Revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – a measure of traffic – climbed 6.2% on a year-over-year basis to 4.21 billion. Average seat miles (ASMs) – a measure of capacity – climbed 5.7% to 4.82 billion in Aug 2016.
Load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) climbed 40 basis points to 87.4% in the month as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion.
The number of departures during Aug 2016 grew 4.4%. The low-cost carrier registered a completion factor of 98.7%, with 73% of its flights on schedule. JetBlue’s preliminary revenue per available seat mile (RASM) dropped roughly 5.5% year over year in August. For the first eight months of 2016, JetBlue witnessed a 10.5% increase in RPMs to 31.0 billion and a 10.6% rise in ASMs to 36.3 billion, both on a year-over-year basis. However, load factor declined 10 basis points to 85.4% in the month.
Third-Quarter Guidance
JetBlue expects RASM for the third quarter to decline 3–4% year over year. This marks an improvement from the 8.2% decline witnessed in the second quarter. The company maintained its third-quarter guidance for capacity growth in the band of 5.5–7.5%. Capacity for 2016 is still projected to increase in the range of 8% to 9.5%. We expect the company’s capacity expansion plans to boost top-line growth. Load factor improvement and better RASM view than the second-quarter performance can be attributed to the 2.44% rise in stock price on Sep 13.
CFO Resigns
JetBlue announced that its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and executive vice president Mark Powers will retire on Nov 1, 2016. After his retirement, Powers will remain associated with the company as an advisor for a year. The company’s current Vice President and treasurer, Jim Leddy, will assume the role of interim CFO, subject to approval by the company’s board of directors.
JETBLUE AIRWAYS Price
JETBLUE AIRWAYS Price | JETBLUE AIRWAYS Quote
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
JetBlue currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock from the same industry is Copa Holdings SA (CPA - Free Report) with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Some other well-ranked stocks in the airline space include ANA Holdings Inc. (ALNPY - Free Report) and SkyWest Inc. (SKYW - Free Report) . Both these stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Confidential from Zacks
Beyond this Analyst Blog, would you like to see Zacks' best recommendations that are not available to the public? Our Executive VP, Steve Reitmeister, knows when key trades are about to be triggered and which of our experts has the hottest hand. Click to see them now>>