JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU) Stock Update

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) stock has been beating the rest of the industry since the beginning of the year. Currently, the stock is trading at $20.29 during pre-market hours and has an average trading volume of 8.5 million.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg remain confident that the stock price will yield growth and increase to $24.91 by the end of the year. Additionally, nine out of a total of 17 analysts polled by Bloomberg rate the stock a Buy and seven rate it a Hold. The airline has been reporting growth in its monthly traffic as well, as compared to other US airlines which reported a decline in their unit revenues. JetBlue will report its May traffic by the end of this week. In April, the airline reported an increase of 4% in its passenger revenue per available seat miles (PRASM).

JetBlue Airlines stock has increased 29.19% year-to-date (YTD) with the support of its expanded flight operations. The stock has also yielded a growth of 94.4% over the last 12 months. The airline also reported healthy first-quarter fiscal’15 (1QFY15) earnings, posting revenues of $1.52 billion while missing the estimated revenues by only 0.08%. The company however beat earnings per share estimates by 0.5%.

Considering the current performance and its growth over the last 12 months, Bloomberg analysts estimate the company will report revenues of $1.6 billion with a YoY growth of 8.5%, along with estimated EPS of $0.46.

JetBlue was also one of the companies that took the least hits during the slump period in the airline industry last month. The slump came after analysts estimated an increase in the airlines’ risk associated with crude oil prices. Analysts believe the growth in the airline capacity, industry-wide, will exceed demand and ultimately affect airlines’ revenues adversely.

However, JetBlue continues to increase its flight operations and has also been taking away market share from other giant US airlines. Last month, the airline announced to introduce direct flights to Mexico with the aim of increasing its unit revenues. However, JetBlue will face competition from Delta Air Lines in that region, as Delta too has announced new flights to Mexico City through a code-sharing partnership with Aeromexico.

JetBlue remains bullish regarding its growing flight operations. Delta Air Lines has been reporting a decline in its PRASM since the last two months, while JetBlue has reported consecutive growth in its PRASM over the last three months.

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