American Airlines stock rockets after narrower-than-expected loss, sales and load factor beats
Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. AAL, rocketed 54.5% toward an 11-month high in premarket trading Thursday, after the air carrier reported a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, and revenue and load factor that beat expectations. The company swung to a net loss of $2.18 billion, or $3.81 a share, from net income of $414 million, or 95 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, the adjusted loss per share was $3.86, beating the FactSet loss consensus of $4.11. Revenue fell 64% to $4.03 billion, but beat the FactSet consensus of $3.88 billion. Load factor fell to 63.4% from 84.7%, above the FactSet consensus of 62.9%, as traffic declined 66.7% while capacity dropped 55.4%. The daily cash burn rate during the quarter was $30 million, which compares with nearly $100 million in April. The company expects to end the first quarter with $15.0 billion in total available liquidity. "As we look to the year ahead, 2021 will be a year of recovery," said Chief Executive Doug Parker. "While we don't know exactly when passenger demand will return, as vaccine distribution takes hold and travel restrictions are lifted, we will be ready." The stock has run up 51.2% over the past three months through Wednesday, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS, has climbed 29.5% and the S&P 500 SPX, has gained 14.7%.
