By Mark R. Long

Allegiant Travel raised its quarterly earnings forecast on higher-than-expected bookings, the latest airline to boost guidance as travel demand strengthens.

The Las Vegas company Thursday said it now expects its fourth-quarter consolidated earnings to come in at $1.75 to $2.25 a share, up from previous guidance for zero to $1 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings per share of 66 cents.

"Booking trends following the election continue to outpace our initial expectations," Chief Commercial Officer Drew Wells said, adding holiday bookings are beating its initial forecasts.

The guidance upgrade comes a week after American Airlines and Southwest Airlines raised their financial guidance on encouraging booking trends.

Allegiant said the key measure of total revenue per available seat mile in the fourth quarter is now expected to be down 1.5% year-over-year, compared with an earlier forecast for a 4.5% drop.

The company said it took delivery of two of Boeing's 737-MAX aircraft in November, and expects to close the year with four in service, compared with an initial expectation to have one flying. Greater confidence in the 737 deliveries prompted Allegiant to sell underused CFM engines, bringing a $15 million gain.

Shares of Allegiant rose 1.5% to $88 in premarket trading. The stock has more than doubled over the past three months, and is up about 5% since the start of the year.

Write to Mark R. Long at mark.long@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 12, 2024 08:21 ET (13:21 GMT)

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