American Airlines Lifts Q2 Earnings View Above Market; Backs FY23 Forecast

(RTTNews) - American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) Wednesday lifted its forecast for second-quarter adjusted earnings per share and adjusted operating margin. Further, the company maintained its outlook for fiscal 2023 earnings.

For the second quarter, the company now projects adjusted earnings per share to be between around $1.45 to $1.65 and adjusted operating margin to be approximately 12.5 percent to 14.5 percent.

The company previously expected adjusted earnings per share between $1.20 and $1.40 and adjusted operating margin to be approximately 11 percent to 13 percent.

On average, 16 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect earnings of $1.31 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company now expects total revenue per available seat mile to be down approximately 1 percent to 3 percent versus the second quarter of 2022, while previously it was expected to be down 2 percent to 4 percent. The improvement in unit revenue guidance is driven by continued strength in the demand environment.

Available seat miles are still expected to be up 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent from last year.

Further ahead, for fiscal 2023, American Airlines continues to expect adjusted earnings per share to be between $2.50 and $3.50, and available seat miles to grow between 5 percent to 8 percent.

The Street expects earnings of $2.74 per share for the year.

In pre-market activity on Nasdaq, American Airlines shares were gaining around 1.5 percent to trade at $14.84.