Allegiant (ALGT) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Miss, Increase Y/Y

Allegiant Travel Company (NASDAQ:ALGT) delivered lackluster second-quarter 2019 results, with earnings and revenues falling short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The transportation company’s total earnings of $4.33 per share lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.67. However, the bottom line increased almost 40% year over year. Meanwhile, total operating revenues increased 12.6% year over year to $491.8 million on the back of a 12.1% rise in passenger revenues. However, the top line missed the consensus mark of $505.2 million.

Notably, quarterly earnings (airline operations) increased 49.8% year over year to $4.81 per share. Airline revenues increased 12% to $486.8 million.

Quarter in Details

Systemwide air traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles: RPMs) in the quarter under review rose 11.5% and capacity (measured in available seat miles: ASMs) increased 13.4% year over year. Consequently, load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) was 82.2%, down 130 basis points, as capacity expansion outweighed traffic growth.

Airline operating cost per available seat miles (CASM) excluding fuel fell 6.1%. Moreover, total scheduled service passenger revenue per available seat miles (TRASM) declined 1.6% to 10.97 cents. Average fuel cost per gallon (scheduled) decreased 6.3% to $2.22 in the quarter.

In the quarter under review, Allegiant rewarded shareholders with dividends worth $11 million. Furthermore, the board of directors has cleared a dividend of 70 cents per share, which is payable on Sep 27, 2019 to shareholders of record as of Sep 20.

Allegiant Travel Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Allegiant Travel Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Allegiant Travel Company Quote

Full-Year 2019 Outlook

The company expects scheduled and system ASMs to increase between 8% and 9% each. The company now expects non-fuel unit costs (airline) to decline between 3% and 4% (earlier outlook had hinted at a decline in the 1.5-3.5% range).

The company now expects fuel cost per gallon of $2.15 (earlier guidance: $2.26). Additionally, effective tax rate is now anticipated between 23% and 24%.

This Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company now expects earnings per share in the range of $13.50-$14.25 (earlier guidance: $13.25-$14.75) for the current year. The mid-point of the guided range ($13.88 per share) is above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.73.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Investors interested in the Zacks Airline industry are keenly awaiting second-quarter 2019 earnings reports from key players like SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) , GOL Linhas (NYSE:GOL) and Copa Holdings (NYSE:CPA) . While SkyWest is scheduled to report second-quarter results on Jul 31, GOL Linhas and Copa Holdings will do so on Aug 1 and Aug 7, respectively.

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