Hawaiian Airlines' January Traffic Up but Load Factor Down

   Hawaiian Holdings, Inc.’s HA wholly owned subsidiary Hawaiian Airlines reported traffic figures for January. Traffic (measured in Revenue Passenger Miles or RPMs) increased 6.6% to 1.53 billion in the month. Available Seat Miles (ASMs) climbed 7.5% to 1.83 billion in the period. With capacity expansion exceeding traffic growth, load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) deteriorated 70 basis points (bps) to 83.6%. The carrier transported 963,053 passengers in January, up 0.5% year over year.

  

   With the earnings season on, let’s shed some light on the airline’s recently released fourth-quarter earnings report. The carrier’s quarterly earnings (excluding 8 cents from non-recurring items) of 99 cents per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 87 cents. However, the bottom line dipped 1% year over year. Although quarterly revenues of $708.1 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $709.3 million, the same inched up 1.5% year over year.

  

   Passenger revenues accounting for bulk (91.6%) of the top line increased 1.6% year over year. Meanwhile, with pressures related to average fares in the carrier’s domestic markets, operating revenue per available seat mile (RASM: a key measure of unit revenues) slid 2.1% year over year. (Read more: Hawaiian Holdings Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Slip Y/Y)

      Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price

      Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. price | Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Quote

   Zacks Rank & Key Picks

  

   Hawaiian Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are GATX Corporation GATX, Azul S.A. AZUL and Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. VLRS, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

  

   GATX boasts a stellar earnings record, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 21%. Meanwhile, shares of Azul and Controladora Vuela have gained more than 27% and 73%, respectively, in a year’s time.

  

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Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (HA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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AZUL SA (AZUL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
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