Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, from American Airlines company, taking off from Barcelona airport, in Barcelona on twenty fourth February 2023.
JanValls | Nurphoto | Getty Images
American Airlines posted a third-quarter loss on Thursday and trimmed its profit forecast for the 12 months, partly in response to higher fuel prices.
The carrier said Thursday it expects to earn between $2.25 and $2.50 a share, on an adjusted basis, for the 12 months, down from an estimate in July of $3 to $3.75 but largely in keeping with analyst expectations. American said it expects a full-year adjusted operating margin of seven%, down from a previous forecast for as wide a margin as 10%.
For the fourth quarter, American estimated it will break even.
Here’s how American Airlines performed within the third quarter compared with what Wall Street anticipated, based on a mean of analysts’ estimates compiled by LSEG, formerly often called Refinitiv:
- Adjusted earnings per share: 38 cents vs. 25 cents expected
- Total revenue: $13.48 billion vs. expected $ 13.52 billion
While airlines have enjoyed a resurgence of travel because the pandemic ended, especially for international destinations, fares broadly have dropped from last 12 months.
American said it expects unit revenue within the fourth quarter to drop between 5.5% and seven.5% from a 12 months earlier with unit costs, excluding fuel, up 5% to 7% 12 months over 12 months and capability up 4.5% to six.5% from the identical period of 2022.
The corporate lost $545 million, or 83 cents per share, through the third quarter, down from a profit of $483 million, or 69 cents per share through the same period a 12 months earlier. It was the carrier’s first loss because the first quarter of 2022. Capability was up 7% from a 12 months ago.
CEO Robert Isom told staff in a note that “while there have been bumps along the way in which, resembling significantly higher fuel costs that resulted in lower earnings within the quarter, our team continues to excel at controlling what we will control, which can make us successful regardless of the environment.”
Adjusting for higher costs related to the pilots’ recent labor agreement, the corporate reported earnings of $263 million, or 38 cents per share.
Revenue was up 0.1% from the year-ago period.
American will hold a call with analysts and media at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday to debate results and its outlook.
