Air Lease (AL) Stock Up On Q1 Earnings And Revenue Beat

Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) delivered better-than-expected earnings and revenues in the first quarter of 2019. Following the impressive results, shares of the company rose 1.2% in after-market trading on May 9.

The company’s earnings of $1.23 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.21. Quarterly revenues came in at $466.1 million, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $459.1 million. The top line also increased 22.3% year over year, primarily owing to consistent fleet growth.

Meanwhile, rental of flight equipment revenues, accounting for bulk (97.8%) of the top line, climbed 20.6% from the year-ago figure. Also, aircraft sales and trading activity revenues surged more than 200% to $10.31 million. Total expenses rose 21.3% to $291.11 million, thanks to higher interest expenses, and selling, general and administrative expenses.

During the reported quarter, this Los Angeles, CA-based company received a delivery of 11 planes and sold six aircraft, thereby exiting the period with a fleet of 280 in its portfolio, up from 275 at the end of 2018. The average fleet net book value totaled $16.3 billion compared with $15.7 billion in December 2018.

Air Lease Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Dividend Update

Air Lease’s board cleared a quarterly cash dividend of 13 cents per share, payable Jul 11, 2019, to its shareholders of record as of Jun 5.

Liquidity

Air Lease exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $285.72 million compared with $300.13 million at the end of December 2018. As of Mar 31, 2019, the company had $11.87 billion of debt financing, net of discount and issuance costs compared with $11.54 billion as of Dec 31, 2018.

The company generated $261.25 million during the first quarter compared with $246.67 million in the first quarter of 2018.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Air Lease carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are SkyWest, Inc. (NASDAQ:SKYW) , Swire Pacific Ltd. (OTC:SWRAY) and GATX Corporation (NYSE:GATX) . While SkyWest and Swire Pacific sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), GATX carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of SkyWest, Swire Pacific and GATX have gained more than 6%, 21% and 5%, respectively, in a year’s time.

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