In the past week, Allegiant Travel Company ALGT and SkyWest SKYW reported better-than-expected earnings per share and revenues for the fourth quarter of 2024. Upbeat air travel demand during the holiday period aided results.  More earnings-related updates are available in the previous week’s airline roundup.

Ryanair Holdings RYAAY reported impressive traffic numbers for January, highlighting the rosy air travel demand scenario. Meanwhile, JetBlue Airways JBLU and TAP Air Portugal expanded their partnership, introducing reciprocal loyalty benefits for travelers.

Recap of the Recent Most Important Stories

1.  Allegiant reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $2.10, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.88. The company had reported earnings of 11 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Operating revenues of $627.7 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $624.8 million and improved 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. ALGT expects adjusted consolidated EPS to be between $1.50 and $2.50. 

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

2. SkyWest’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $2.34 outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77 and improved more than 100% year over year. Revenues of $944.4 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $904 million and improved 26% year over year owing to flying contract rate increases. Revenues from flying agreements (contributing 96.7% to the top line) grew 25.3% from the prior year quarter. The airline carried 13.2% more passengers in the reported quarter on a year-over-year basis.

3. In January 2025, the number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 12.4 million, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase. The January load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 91% from 89% in the year-ago period.

4. The partnership between JetBlue and TAP Air Portugal now has the feature of reciprocal point earning and redemption for award travel. Following the addition, members of JetBlue’s TrueBlue loyalty program and TAP’s Miles&Go program can earn and redeem points using the program of their choice when flying across either network. It marks the first time JetBlue TrueBlue members can redeem TrueBlue points for flights on one of JetBlue’s European airline partners. The customer-friendly move comes on the heels of JetBlue’s European expansion announcement of daily nonstop summer seasonal service from Boston to Madrid, Spain, and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Airline Stock Price Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major airline players over the past week and during the last six months.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The NYSE ARCA Airline Index decreased 3.7% to $71.44, as most stocks in the table above traded in the red. Allegiant shares declined the most due to the company’s lower-than-expected first-quarter 2025 earnings guidance. Over the past six months, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has increased by 48%.

What’s Next in the Airline Space?

Fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of the Latin American carrier Copa Holdings CPA are scheduled to be released on Feb. 12. Passenger volumes are likely to have been high, aiding the company’s performance in the fourth quarter of 2024. Labor costs are likely to have been high.

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Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY) : Free Stock Analysis Report

JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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