Alaska Air forecasting lowered CASM on increased capacity; Southwest up; Republic Airways tumbles
Alaska Air (+1.7%) made one of the few gains among North and South American airlines on Friday (17-Dec-2010) after forecasting a 3-4% year-on-year decline in costs per ASM excluding fuel for FY2010, to between USD8.80 cents and USD8.82 cents. Capacity for the full year is also expected to improve, with the carrier expecting ASMs to be up 4.5% to 27,730 million.
Alaska Air has hedged 50% of expected fuel requirements for 4Q2010 at USD83 weighted average crude oil per barrel and USD11 average premium cost per barrel. For FY2011, the carrier has hedged 50% of fuel requirements at USD86 weighted average crude oil per barrel and USD11 average premium cost per barrel.
See related CAPA Profile: Jet Fuel
Southwest rises on analyst upgrade
Southwest Airlines (+2.3%) also rose for the session after Soleil Securities upgrading its rating of the LCC's stock from "hold" to "buy", with a price target of USD15.
Copa Airlines (+2.6%) and TAM (1.2%) also gained.
Republic Airways tumbles
Republic Airways (-3.3%) suffered one of the biggest declines for the day, despite SmarTrend stating on Friday that analysts expect the carrier to report a profit for FY2010. On average, analysts expect the carrier to report a profit of USD0.79 per share, compared with a loss of USD0.35 per share in the previous corresponding period.
See related CAPA Profile: Outlook, Forecasts, Guidance
Air Canada (-5.1%) also slumped for the session, while JetBlue (-1.6%) also fell after TradersHuddle.com stated the LCC is trading close to calculated resistance at USD6.85. JetBlue closed the day at USD6.60.
North & South America selected airlines daily share price movements (% change): 17-Dec-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Yahoo! Finance