Copa Holdings (NYSE:CPA), S.A. CPA reported a significant decline in October traffic due to coronavirus-led travel demand woes. Consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), plunged 87.8% year over year to 209.8 million.
Amid weak air-travel demand, the airline’s capacity (measured in available seat miles/ASMs), declined 85.2% year over year to 300.2 million in October. Load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) slipped 1510 basis points to 69.9% as traffic decreased more than the contraction in capacity.
After nearly a complete shutdown in operations since March due to coronavirus-led travel restrictions, the company has now restarted regular commercial operations. This shrinkage in operations is likely to have weighed significantly on the carrier’s passenger revenues (accounting for majority of the top line) in the third quarter (results are set to be released on Nov 18).
However, reduced expenses on fuel and cost-cutting measures are expected to have aided the company’s bottom line in the third quarter.
Shares of Copa Holdings have declined 30.9% so far this year primarily due to the impact of coronavirus on its operations.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Copa Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) LSTR, Expeditors International (NASDAQ:EXPD) of Washington EXPD and FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) FDX. While FedEx sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Landstar and Expeditors carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Landstar, Expeditors and FedEx have gained more than 16%, 19% and 77% in a year’s time, respectively.
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FedEx Corporation (FDX): Free Stock Analysis Report
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