Alaska Air Group's (ALK) Traffic & Load Factor Up In July

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) reported traffic statistics for July. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), inched up 2.8% to 5.38 billion on the back of rising air travel demand.

Also, on a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) rose 2.5% to 6.12 billion. With traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers improved 30 basis points (bps) to 88%.

In the first seven months of 2019, the carrier generated RPMs of 32.47 billion (up 1.1% year over year) and ASMs of 38.61 billion (up 0.8% year over year). Also, load factor inched up 20 bps to 84.1%.

With solid traffic growth, the carrier has been generating higher passenger revenues. Notably, passenger revenues rose 6% in the second quarter of 2019 while traffic inched up 1.1%. This impressive ascent in passenger revenues (accounting for the maximum share of the top line) helped the company deliver better-than-expected earnings and revenues.

While adjusted earnings of $2.17 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.11, revenues of $2,288 million came above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,282 million. (Read more: Alaska Air Q2 Earnings Surpass, Q3 RASM View Upbeat)

Other key airline players, namely United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) , Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) also delivered better-than-expected earnings and revenues for second-quarter 2019.

Breakout Biotech Stocks with Triple-Digit Profit Potential

The biotech sector is projected to surge beyond $775 billion by 2024 as scientists develop treatments for thousands of diseases. They’re also finding ways to edit the human genome to literally erase our vulnerability to these diseases.

Zacks has just released Century of Biology: 7 Biotech Stocks to Buy Right Now to help investors profit from 7 stocks poised for outperformance. Our recent biotech recommendations have produced gains of +98%, +119% and +164% in as little as 1 month. The stocks in this report could perform even better.

See these 7 breakthrough stocks now>>

United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report

Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE): Free Stock Analysis Report

Original post

Zacks Investment Research