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Copa Holdings' December Traffic Rises, Load Factor Down

Copa Holdings, S.A. CPA posted mixed traffic numbers for December 2018. Load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) declined as traffic growth was outpaced by capacity expansion.

Consolidated traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles or RPMs) came in at 1.9 billion, up 5.3% from the year-ago figure. On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) rose 6% to 2.3 billion. However, consolidated load factor contracted 0.5 percentage points (pp) to 82.1%.

For 2018, Copa Holdings generated RPMs of 21.5 billion (up 8.1% year over year) and ASMs of 25.8 billion (up 7.9% year over year). Consequently, load factor registered a rise of 0.2 pp year over year to 83.4%.

Copa Holdings, S.A. Price

 

Copa Holdings, S.A. Price | Copa Holdings, S.A. Quote

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In spite of the increase in December traffic, the carrier has its own share of challenges. Despite the current downtrend in oil prices, fuel costs are expected to hurt bottom-line growth in the final quarter of 2018. Escalating operating expenses are also expected to dent the bottom line. Currency devaluation in certain Latin American economies is an added challenge for Copa Holdings.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Copa Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A few better-ranked stocks in the Zacks Airline industry are Spirit Airlines, Inc. SAVE, Azul S.A. AZUL and Allegiant Travel Company ALGT. While Allegiant carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Spirit Airlines and Azul sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Spirit Airlines and Azul have gained 42.5% and 49.6% in the past six months, respectively. Meanwhile, Allegiant outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being 18.7%.

Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2019

In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-holds for the year?

Who wouldn't? Our annual Top 10s have beaten the market with amazing regularity. In 2018, while the market dropped -5.2%, the portfolio scored well into double-digits overall with individual stocks rising as high as +61.5%. And from 2012-2017, while the market boomed +126.3, Zacks' Top 10s reached an even more sensational +181.9%.

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Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
AZUL SA (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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