Alaska Air Group (ALK) Reports Impressive August Traffic
Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK reported traffic statistics for August. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), increased 4.6% to 5.19 billion.
Also, on a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) rose 4.2% to 6.04 billion. With traffic growth outpacing capacity expansion, load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers improved 30 basis points (bps) to 86%.
In the first eight months of 2019, the carrier generated RPMs of 37.66 billion (up 1.6% year over year) and ASMs of 44.64 billion (up 1.3% year over year). As a result, load factor increased 30 bps to 84.4%.
Alaska Air Group recently revised its guidance for third-quarter unit revenues and fuel costs. The carrier expects revenue per available seat mile (RASM) to rise in the 3-5% range year over year (the earlier outlook projected an increase in the 2-5% range). Additionally, economic fuel cost is now anticipated to be $2.15 per gallon compared with the earlier forecast of $2.21.
Alaska Air Group, Inc. Price
Alaska Air Group, Inc. price | Alaska Air Group, Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Alaska Air Group carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the same space are Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. VLRS, Copa Holdings, S.A. CPA and Allegiant Travel Company ALGT. While Controladora Vuela and Copa sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Allegiant carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of Controladora Vuela, Copa and Allegiant have rallied more than 94%, 25% and 50% so far this year, respectively.
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Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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