Hawaiian Holdings posted third-quarter 2023 loss (excluding 12 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.06 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 76 cents. In the year-ago quarter, HA posted a loss of 15 cents.

Quarterly revenues of $727.7 million fell 1.8% year over year and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $743.1 million. Quarterly revenues were hurt by a devastating wildfire in Lahaina in West Maui, in turn, affecting traffic.

Notably, passenger revenues accounted for 91.4% of the top line in third-quarter 2023.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Quote

Scheduled airline traffic (measured by revenue passenger miles) increased 8.2% year over year, greater than our anticipation of 7.9%. Scheduled capacity (measured in available seat miles or ASM) rose 4.2% year over year to 5166.5 million, lower than our projection of 4.7%. Passenger load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 86.1% from 83% reported a year ago. The actual jump was greater than our forecast of 85.5%

Passenger revenue per ASM or PRASM decreased to 12.87 cents, witnessing a year-over-year fall of 3.8%. Operating revenue per ASM (RASM) fell by 5.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Average fuel cost per gallon (economic) decreased 17.5% to $2.92 in the third quarter compared with year-ago levels.  Operating cost per ASM or CASM, excluding aircraft fuel and non-recurring items, inched up 1% year over year to 15.14 cents at third-quarter 2023 end.

Liquidity

As of Sep 30, the company had unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $1.13 billion, and outstanding debt and finance lease obligations of $1.65 billion.

Q4 2023 Outlook

RASM is expected to go down to 10-13% from fourth-quarter 2022 figures.

Capacity is anticipated to increase 1.5-4.5% from fourth-quarter 2022 levels.
Costs per ASM (excluding fuel & non-recurring items) are suggested to climb 6.5-9.5% (non-GAAP figures) from fourth-quarter 2022 levels.

Gallons of jet fuel consumed are forecast to increase 5-8% from the fourth-quarter 2022 levels.

The effective tax rate is envisioned to be around 21% during the fourth quarter.

Fuel price per gallon is expected to be $3.09 by the end of fourth-quarter 2023.

2023 Outlook

The below expectations are in comparison to full-year 2022 actuals.

Gallons of jet fuel consumed are now suggested to increase 11.5-13% (prior view: up 12.5-14.5%).    

Fuel price per gallon is anticipated to be $2.89 (prior view: $2.78).

ASM are now expected to improve 7.5-8.5% (prior view: up 8-10%).    

Capital Expenditure is still projected to be $265-295 million.

Hawaiian Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q3 Performance of Some Other Transportation Companies

United Airlines (UAL Quick QuoteUAL - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2023 earnings per share (excluding 23 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.65, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.40 and improved 29.9% year over year.

Operating revenues of $14,484 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14,441.8 million. The top line increased 12.5% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s (JBHT Quick QuoteJBHT - Free Report) third-quarter 2023 earnings per share of $1.80 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 and declined 30% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3,163.8 million also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,224 million and fell 18% year over year.