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6 Reasons Why Ryanair (RYAAY) Should be in Your Portfolio

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Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY - Free Report) is benefiting from the improvement in traffic from the pandemic-led slump. Measures to expand its fleet and bring down debt levels are encouraging too.

Against this backdrop, let’s look at the factors that make this stock an attractive pick.

What Makes RYAAY an Attractive Pick?

An Outperformer: A glimpse at the company’s price trend reveals that the stock has had an impressive run on the bourse year to date. Shares of RYAAY have gained 31.4% so far this year compared with the 16.5% rise of the industry it belongs to.

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Solid Rank & VGM Score: RYAAY has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) and has a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2, offer the best investment opportunities. Thus, the company seems to be an appropriate investment proposition at the moment.

Northward Estimate Revisions:The direction of estimate revisions serves as an important pointer when it comes to the price of a stock. Over the past 90 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for RYAAY’s second-quarter fiscal 2024 earnings has moved up 28.72% year over year.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: RYAAY has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company delivered an earnings surprise of 17.16% in the last four quarters, on average. 

Earnings Expectations: Earnings growth and stock price gains often indicate a company’s prospects. For second-quarter fiscal 2024, RYAAY’s earnings are expected to grow 39.85% year over year.

Growth Factors: An improvement in Ryanair’s traffic from the pandemic-led slump is encouraging. The number of passengers ferried on RYAAY flights in July was 18.7 million, up 11% year over year. This compared favorably with the June 2023 figure of 17.4 million and the May 2023 figure of 17 million. Owing to upbeat traffic, the load factor was high at 96% in July 2023. The reading was similar to that reported a year ago. RYAAY operated more than 102,000 flights in July 2023.

On the back of the buoyant traffic scenario, RYAAY’s profit after tax was €663 million in first-quarter fiscal 2024, up more than 100% year over year. Average fares in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 were up 42%. Ryanair expects its traffic view for fiscal 2024 to be 183.5 million.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Zacks Airline industry may also consider some top-ranked stocks like United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) and Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) . UAL presently sports a Zacks Rank #1, while DAL carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

United Airlines is seeing a steady recovery in domestic and international air-travel demand. Owing to this, UAL expects revenues for the September quarter to grow 10-13% year over year. Our third-quarter total revenue estimate hints at an increase of 11.4% year over year.

For third-quarter 2023, United Airlines anticipates capacity to improve 16% from the year-ago reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UAL’s current-year earnings has been revised 19.7% upward over the past 60 days.

Improved air-travel demand, particularly on the domestic front, is aiding Delta. Due to the positive, DAL reported better-than-expected earnings per share (EPS) and revenues in the second quarter of 2023. For third-quarter 2023, the company expects EPS in the range of $2.2-$2.5.

Management also raised its EPS outlook for the current year. The company now anticipates 2023 EPS (on an adjusted basis) in the band of $6-$7 (previous view: $6 per share). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DAL’s current-year earnings has been revised 23.5% upward over the past 60 days.


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