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On August 27, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) led the price change in checked baggage fees. It raised the price for the first checked bag from $25 to $30 and the second checked bag from $35 to $40.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) just reported that it flew 18.3 million passengers last month—the most ever for the month of August and 4% higher than last August.
For October, SAVE was ranked third on the metric according to the Department of Transportation. That’s a huge improvement since Spirit has historically been last.
Right now, 36.8% of the analysts tracking Southwest Airlines (LUV) stock have given it “strong buy” ratings. Another 52.6% of analysts have “buy” ratings on the stock.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) stock has risen 7.5% since its traffic update on December 7, 2017. Its regional peer JetBlue Airways (JBLU) has also risen 0.93%.
In November 2017, Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) utilization improved 0.7% year-over-year (or YoY) to 85.8% as its traffic growth exceeded its capacity growth.
In November 2017, Southwest Airlines’ (LUV) traffic grew 3.4% year-over-year (or YoY). This growth was higher than its capacity growth of 2.5% YoY in the same month.
United Continental’s board has approved a new share buyback program worth $3 billion—approximately 17% of the company’s market cap of $18 billion at the time of the announcement.
In November 2017, Delta’s (DAL) capacity grew 2.9% YoY (year-over-year) to ~18.9 billion miles. YTD (year-to-date), the carrier’s capacity has risen 1.0%.
Dividends Boeing (BA) has been paying dividends consistently for the past 20 years. In 3Q17, the company paid a total of $900 million in dividends, which was ~30% of its free cash flow generated in the quarter. Falling yield At its current market price of $268, Boeing has an indicated dividend yield of 2.1%. The yield has been […]
Underfunded status At the end of 2016, Boeing’s (BA) pension plan was underfunded by $20 billion. General Electric (GE), with a plan underfunded by $31.1 billion, is the only company worse off than Boeing. This status is a drastic turn of events—Boeing’s pension plan was overfunded by $4.7 billion until 2008. Two things played a key role in this […]
Revenue In fiscal 2017, Boeing (BA) continues to expect revenue of $90.5 billion–$92.5 billion, which is 3.4% lower than its 2016 revenue of $94.6 billion. Of this revenue, $55.5 billion–$56.5 billion will be contributed by the Commercial Airplanes segment, $20.5 billion–$21.5 billion will be contributed by Defense, Space & Security, and $14.0 billion–$14.5 billion by […]
Performance in 3Q17 In 3Q17, Boeing (BA) saw revenue of $24.3 billion, 2% growth from the $23.9 billion it reported in 3Q16. Its operating margin expanded from 9.5% in 3Q16 to 11.1% in 3Q17. The Commercial Airplanes segment recorded a 1% YoY fall in revenue to $15.0 billion. The segment’s operating margin expanded from 8.5% in 3Q16 to […]
ALK’s 3Q17 net income fell 3.9% YoY to $266.0 million, leading to earnings per share (or EPS) of $2.24 and missing analysts’ estimates of $2.26 per share.
Currently, TripAdvisor’s (TRIP) forward price-to-earnings ratio stands at 28.0x, which is lower than the 35.6x average valuation seen since its initial stock listing in 2011.
At the end of 3Q17, TripAdvisor had $763.0 million in cash and short-term investments on its balance sheet—lower than the ~$904.0 million it had at the end of 2016.
After Priceline (PCLN) released its 3Q17 results, analysts’ estimates for 2017 and 2018 were revised downwards. For the fourth quarter of 2017, sales are expected to grow 14.8% year-over-year or YoY to $2.7 billion.
A large part of Priceline’s (PCLN) growth in the past has come from acquiring smaller companies all over the world. It had to raise debt to finance some of these acquisitions.
For the third quarter of 2017, Priceline’s (PCLN) revenue rose 20.2% YoY or year-over-year to $4.4 billion, driven by strong gross bookings growth of 19% YoY.
Hotel accommodations have historically driven Priceline’s growth. During the third quarter of the year, Priceline’s global accommodation business booked 178 million room nights.
The Priceline Group (PCLN) reported its third-quarter financial results after market hours on November 6. PCLN beat analyst estimates for both revenues and earnings.
Current valuation Southwest Airlines (LUV) has a forward EV-to-EBITDA[1. enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization] multiple of 7.1x. This is the highest multiple among the major airline carriers and is higher than its average valuation of 6.3x since September 2008. Peer comparisons American Airlines (AAL) is trading at a similar valuation […]
Analysts’ recommendations Of the 17 analysts tracking Southwest Airlines (LUV), 36.8% of the analysts (seven analysts) gave a “strong buy” rating on the stock, while another 47.4% (nine analysts) gave a “buy” rating. The remaining 15.8% (three analysts) gave a “hold” rating. None of the analysts gave a “sell” or “strong sell” rating on the […]
Southwest Airlines (LUV) reported its 3Q17 earnings on October 26. LUV missed its consensus estimates for revenues while beating its estimates for earnings per share.
Analyst views Of the 22 analysts tracking Hyatt (H), two analysts (9.1%) have a “strong buy” rating on the stock, and three analysts (13.6%) have a “buy” rating. These analysts were surveyed by Reuters. Only one analyst has changed the rating from “strong buy” to “buy” after the company’s 2Q17 earnings. Sixteen analysts (72.7%) maintained […]
Current valuation Hyatt (H) is trading at a forward EV-to-EBITDA[1. enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization] multiple of 11.2x. The current valuation is lower than its average valuation of 12.2x since January 2010. Peer comparison Hyatt is trading at one of the lowest multiples among its peers. Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) is trading […]
Hyatt’s debt Hyatt’s (H) total debt increased from $1.6 billion at the end of 2016 to $1.7 billion at the end of 1Q17. Its debt remained constant at $1.7 billion at the end of 2Q17. Hyatt’s debt has fluctuated from $1.3 billion to $1.7 billion for the past five years, thanks to its routine acquisitions […]
Second breach in two years On October 12, 2017, Hyatt revealed that its payment system had been breached. There was unauthorized access detected in 41 hotels in 11 countries, exposing customer credit card information at these locations. About 50% of these hotels were located in China. *Other affected countries and territories include Brazil, Colombia, Guam, Indonesia, […]
Hyatt’s RevPAR (revenue per available room) for 2Q17 rose 2.4% in constant dollars and 2.9% year-over-year in constant currency terms across its systemwide properties.
Hyatt (H), which is expected to report its 3Q17 results on November 2, is the only major hotel stock to fall in October. Hyatt stock has fallen 0.74% month-to-date.
JetBlue Airways (JBLU) started its service from Atlanta at the end of March 2017. Now it’s increasing its service from Atlanta to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and New York.
JetBlue Airways (JBLU) is expected to release its third-quarter earnings on October 24, 2017. In this series, we’ll look at its expansion plans, declining profitability, and valuations.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) increased its dividend payout 50.0% in 3Q17, resulting in ~$0.31 dividend per share. At that rate, DAL has an indicated dividend yield of 2.3%.
In December 2016, Delta Air Lines (DAL) placed an order for 75 CS100 Bombardier jets. This huge order was the first for these jets and a huge relief for Bombardier.
Delta Air Lines’ (DAL) average traffic increased 3.4% YoY to 61.0 million passenger miles for 3Q17. For the first nine months of 2017, traffic has increased 2.1% to 166.5 billion miles.
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported its 3Q17 results on October 11, 2017. It managed to beat Wall Street analysts’ estimates for both revenue and profits. Its revenue rose 5.5% YoY.
When crude oil prices peaked at $100 per barrel, labor costs were an airline’s second largest cost. Thanks to the fall in fuel costs, labor is now the largest expense.
High yield Despite the positive run-up Boeing (BA) stock has enjoyed in 2017, its current indicated dividend yield is 2.2%. Boeing’s dividend yield is now lower than the Dow Jones Industrial Average dividend yield of 2.7%. Peer Lockheed Martin (LMT) has an indicated dividend yield of 2.4%, United Technologies (UTX) has an indicated dividend yield […]
The Canadian Air Force placed an order for 65 Lockheed Martin (LMT) F-35 fighter jets for $30 billion. The CAF canceled the order and replaced it with 18 Boeing CF-18 aircraft for $5.2 billion.
After five months of improvement in capacity utilization, Spirit Airlines (SAVE) is back to its old ways. The carrier’s capacity growth has outpaced traffic growth…
American Airlines’ (AAL) capacity grew 3.2% year-over-year in August, significantly higher than its 0.4% year-over-year growth reported in the previous seven months.
Load factor improves In August 2017, United Continental’s (UAL) utilization (load factor) fell 0.2 percent points. This fall was expected, as capacity growth for the month was higher than traffic growth. The load factor, the most commonly used measure of an airline’s capacity utilization, is calculated by multiplying capacity by traffic. A higher load factor […]
