JBLU - JetBlue Airways raises revenue guide into Q1

2023-03-14 07:36:46 ET

JetBlue Airways Corporation ( NASDAQ: JBLU ) shares rose sharply prior to Tuesday’s opening bell after the airline forecast stronger revenue than previously guided for Q1.

The New York-based carrier now expects available seat miles to increase 8% to 9% as compared to 2022, up from a prior guide of between 5.5% and 8.5% growth. In line with the stronger capacity, revenue forecasts were also hiked to a range of 32% to 35% growth as compared to a prior 28% to 32% guide.

“JetBlue has maintained its strong operational performance with a solid completion factor of over 98% quarter-to-date,” an 8-K filing released on Tuesday read. “JetBlue continues to experience robust travel demand trends, which strengthened into Presidents' Day weekend and beyond. The Company is seeing very strong demand in our core leisure and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) markets.”

That said, the strong demand trends have been balanced by rising expenses. The company estimates fuel cost per gallon to range from $3.50 to $3.60, up from $3.20 to $3.35 forecast in late January. As such, the company’s EPS forecast of a $0.45 to $0.35 loss was unchanged from the January guidance .

Full-year revenue and EPS forecasts were also held steady at the guidance level offered in January. Shares of JetBlue ( JBLU ) rose 2.12% in premarket trading on Tuesday.

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