SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) stock has gained 6.4% since its third-quarter 2024 earnings release on Oct. 31, 2024.The uptick can be attributed to the better-than-expected third-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Notably, quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.16 outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 and improved more than 100% year over year.

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Revenues of $912.8 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $887.5 million and improved 19.1% year over year owing to flying contract rate increases. Additionally, SKYW had $19 million of deferred revenues during the reported quarter under its flying contracts.

Revenues from flying agreements (contributing 96.7% to the top line) grew 19.1% from the prior-year reported figure of $883.49 million. The airline carried 10.3% more passengers in the reported quarter on a year-over-year basis. Departures were 11.8% more on a year-over-year basis. The passenger load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) decreased 1.4 points to 83.7%.

Concurrent with its third-quarter 2024 results, SkyWest also announced that it had inked a deal with United Airlines UAL to place 40 CRJ550s under a multi-year contract. Per the deal, SKYW will purchase 11 used CRJ550s and convert 29 of its CRJ700s to CRJ550s.

By 2026-end, SkyWest is scheduled to operate 278 E175 aircraft.

SkyWest, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

SkyWest, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | SkyWest, Inc. Quote

Operating expenses were $781.35 million, up 8.9% from the year-ago reported quarter. The upside was due to an incremental increase in flight production year over year.

At the third-quarter end, the company had cash and marketable securities of $836.04 million compared with $834.26 million reported at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt (net of current maturities) was $2.19 billion compared with $2.28 billion reported at the end of the prior quarter.

Per its previously announced share repurchase program authorized by SKYW’s board of directors in May 2023, SKYW repurchased 217,000 shares of common stock for $16.3 million during third-quarter 2024. As of Sept. 30, 2024, SkyWest had $53 million available under its current share repurchase program

Capital expenditures during the reported quarter were $97 million.

SKYW’s Zacks Rank

Currently, SkyWest 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 (DAL) reported 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, mainly 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. (JBHT) 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 owing to a 5% and 6% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a decline in load volume of 10% and 6% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), respectively, and 6% fewer stops in Final Mile Services (FMS). These were partially offset by JBI load growth of 5%, which included growth in both the transcontinental and eastern networks and a 3% increase in revenue per load in ICS. JBHT’s total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased less than 1% from the year-ago reported quarter.

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