Transportation

American Airlines Earnings Limited by Added Capacity

Paul Ausick

Published: January 29, 2016 8:20 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 2:12 pm

American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL) reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 earnings before markets opened Friday. For the quarter, the airline posted adjusted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $2.00 on revenues of $9.63 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported EPS of $1.52 on revenues of $10.16 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for EPS of $1.97 and $9.63 billion in revenues.

Fourth-quarter net profit excludes a $3 billion net special credit for a reversal of American’s tax valuation allowance. Including the credit, GAAP net profit for the quarter totaled $5.09 per share.

For the full year, American reported a non-GAAP EPS of $9.12 and revenues of $40.99 billion, compared with 2014 EPS of $3.93 and revenues of $42.65 billion. Analysts were looking for EPS of $9.09 and revenues of $41 billion.

In the fourth quarter, the company returned $1.2 billion to shareholders through the payment of $72 million in quarterly dividends and the repurchase of $1.1 billion of common stock (25.6 million shares). When combined with the dividends and shares repurchased during the first three quarters of 2015, American returned $3.9 billion to its shareholders in 2015 and reduced its shares outstanding by repurchasing 85.1 million shares for $3.6 billion.

CEO Doug Parker said:

American Airlines enters 2016 well-positioned for the future. With the youngest aircraft fleet among our major competitors, more than $2 billion of product investments underway, and the best aviation professionals in the business, we are well on our way to restoring American as the greatest airline in the world.

Revenue fell 5.2% year over year in the quarter on a 0.6% increase in available seat miles. Consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile was 12.69 cents, down 6% from the fourth quarter 2014. Fourth-quarter consolidated passenger yield was 15.34 cents, down 8.9% compared with the prior year.

American added nearly 3% to its available capacity in the third quarter of 2015 and another 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Pretty soon the airline needs to begin filling those seats.

American’s shares closed at $38.14 on Thursday, in a 52-week range of $34.10 to $56.05. The stock traded up nearly 2% in Friday’s premarket at $38.86. The consensus price target from Thomson Reuters was $54.54 before the earnings announcement.