Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) reported disappointing second-quarter fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 30, 2024) results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.  Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.82 lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.92 and declined year over year.

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Revenues of $5.56 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.59 billion. However, the top line improved year over year.

RYAAY’s profit after tax of €1.43 billion decreased 6% year over year. Traffic grew 9% year over year, despite multiple Boeing delivery delays.

Ryanair Holdings PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Ryanair Holdings PLC price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ryanair Holdings PLC Quote

Load factor came in at 95% in the reported quarter. Average fares were down 7%.

Operating costs grew 6% year over year to €3.42 billion, owing to higher staff and other costs, which was in part due to Boeing delivery delays. This was partially offset by fuel hedge savings.

Ryanair expects its traffic view for fiscal 2025 to grow 8%, subject to no worsening of current Boeing delivery delays.

RYAAY’s Zacks Rank

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

Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines DALreported third-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 47 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.50 per share, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56. Earnings decreased 26.11% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.

DAL’s revenues of $15.68 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.37 billion and increased 1.2% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.59 billion, flat year over year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’sJBHT third-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.49 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 but declined 17.2% year over year.

JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3.07 billionsurpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04 billion but fell 3% year over year. The downfall was caused by 5% and 6% decreases in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload, respectively; declines in load volume of 10% and 6% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services, respectively; and 6% fewer stops in Final Mile Services. These were partially offset by JBI load growth of 5%, which included growth in the transcontinental and eastern networks and a 3% increase in revenue per load in ICS. JBHT’s total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, decreased less than 1% from the year-ago quarter.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL posted third-quarter 2024 EPS (excluding 43 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.33, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.10. Earnings decreased 8.8% on a year-over-year basis.

UAL’s operating revenues of $14.84 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.76 billion. The top line increased 2.5% year over year due to upbeat air travel demand. This was driven by a 1.6% rise in passenger revenues (accounting for 91.3% of the top line) to $13.56 billion. Almost 45,559 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the third quarter, up 2.7% year over year.

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