Copa Holdings (CPA) Q3 Earnings Beat, Revenues Miss, Up Y/Y
Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) third-quarter 2023 earnings per share (EPS) of $4.39 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.74 and rose 51% year over year. Revenues of $867.7 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $879.3 million but improved 7.2% year over year on the back of passenger revenues.
Passenger revenues (which contributed 96% to the top line) increased 7.6% from third-quarter 2022, owing to higher load factors and yields. Cargo and mail revenues fell 11.2% to $23.43 million due to lower cargo volumes and yields. Other operating revenues came in at $10.97 million, up 24.5% year over year.
Copa Holdings, S.A. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Copa Holdings, S.A. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Copa Holdings, S.A. Quote
Below, we present all comparisons (in % terms) with third-quarter 2022 levels (pre-coronavirus).
On a consolidated basis, traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) grew 13.3% and capacity (measured in available seat miles) increased 12.1%. As a result, the load factor increased 0.9 percentage points to 87.8% in the reported quarter.
Passenger revenue per available seat miles decreased 4% to 11.7 cents. Additionally, revenue per available seat mile decreased 4.3% to 12.2 cents. Cost per available seat mile decreased 11.2%. Excluding fuel, the metric fell 2.1%. The average fuel price per liter fell 21.3% to $3.00.
Total operating expenses decreased 0.5% to $662.69 million due to the 13.5% decrease in fuel costs. Expenses on wages, salaries and other employee benefits rose 12.2%. Sales and distribution costs decreased 11%. Passenger servicing costs grew 22.6%. Flight operation costs increased 15.7%.
Copa Holdings exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $236.87 million compared with $281.86 million at June 2023-end. Total debt, including lease liabilities, was $1.7 billion compared with $1.8 billion at the end of June 2023.
CPA ended third-quarter 2023 with a consolidated fleet of 103 aircraft, which comprises 67 Boeing 737-800s, 26 Boeing 737 MAX 9s, nine Boeing 737-700s, and one Boeing 737-800 freighters.
In November 2023, CPA took delivery of two Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft and anticipates to receive one additional aircraft during the remainder of 2023. CPA expects to end 2023 with 106 aircraft.
In October 2023, CPA completed its previously announced share repurchase program. On Nov 15, 2023, CPA’s board of directors approved a new $200 million share repurchase program.
Further, CPA will make its fourth dividend payment of 82 cents per share on Dec 15, 2023, to all Class A and Class B shareholders on record as of Nov 30, 2023.
Currently, Copa Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performances of Other Transportation Companies
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s JBHT third-quarter 2023 EPS of $1.80 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 and declined 30% year over year.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3,163.8 million also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,224 million and fell 18% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, decreased 15% year over year.
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) reported third-quarter 2023 EPS (excluding 31 cents from nonrecurring items) of $2.03, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 and improved 35% on a year-over-year basis.
DAL’s revenues of $15,488 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15,290.4 million and increased 11% on a year-over-year basis, driven by higher air-travel demand.
Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK reported third-quarter 2023 EPS of $1.83, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.88 and declined 28% year over year.
Operating revenues of $2,839 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,876.1 million. The top line jumped 0.4% year over year, with passenger revenues accounting for 92.2% of the top line and increasing 0.1% owing to continued recovery in air-travel demand.
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