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Here's Why You Should Buy Copa Holdings (CPA) Stock Now

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Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA - Free Report) performed well in the past year and has the potential to sustain the momentum. If you haven’t taken advantage of its share price appreciation yet, it’s time you add the stock to your portfolio.

Let’s take a look at the factors that make the stock an attractive pick at the moment.

An Outperformer: A glimpse at the company’s price trend reveals that its shares have rallied 4.1% in the past year against a 9% decline of the industry.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Solid Rank & VGM Score: Copa Holdings currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong 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 or 2 (Buy), offer the best investment opportunities. Thus, the company seems to be an appropriate investment proposition at the moment.

Northward Estimate Revisions: Five estimates for 2023 moved north in the past 60 days versus no southward revision, reflecting analysts’ confidence in the company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings has moved up 5.5% in the past 60 days.

Positive Earnings Surprise History: CPA has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average earnings surprise of 16.8%.

Strong Growth Prospects: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 earnings is pegged at $15.26 per share. Moreover, its earnings are expected to register 2.6% growth in 2024. The company’s long-term expected earnings per share growth rate is 6.71%.

Driving Factors: Upbeat air-travel demand aided Copa Holdings' performance in third-quarter 2023. Operating revenues for the September quarter improved 7.2% year over year on the back of passenger revenues. Passenger revenues (contributed 96% to the top line) increased 7.6% from third-quarter 2022 actuals owing to higher load factors and yields. For full-year 2023, we estimate the metric to jump 16.1% year over year.

On a consolidated basis, traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) and capacity (measured in available seat miles) grew 13.3% and 12.1%, respectively. As a result, load factor expanded 0.9 percentage points to 87.8% in the reported quarter.

For 2023, CPA expects consolidated capacity or ASMs to register 13% growth year over year. Operating margin is projected to be 23%. Load factor is now forecast to be around 87%.

Total operating expenses inched down 0.5% to $662.69 million year over year in third-quarter 2023. The major component has been falling in fuel price (13.5% year over year in third-quarter 2023).

Other Key Picks

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector may consider other top-ranked stocks like Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY - Free Report) and SkyWest (SKYW - Free Report) .

RYAAY, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #2, is benefiting from buoyant air-traffic scenario post Covid. Traffic grew 11% to 105.4 million during the first half of fiscal 2024. On the back of robust traffic scenario, RYAAY’s profit after tax was €2.18 billion during the first half of fiscal 2024, up 59% year over year. Ryanair expects fiscal 2024 traffic to be 183.5 million.

SKYW's fleet modernization efforts are commendable. SKYW currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. Initiatives to reward its shareholders also bode well. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 earnings increased 3.5% in the past 60 days. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
 


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