JBLU - JetBlue knocks out first quarterly profit since the pandemic

JetBlue Airway Corporation ( NASDAQ: JBLU ) slipped in early trading on Tuesday after the airline company fell slightly short with Q3 EPS.

JBLU said it reached an important milestone during the quarter as its ongoing recovery generated the first quarterly adjusted profit since the start of the pandemic.

Unit revenue rose 29.6% to $0.1580 during the quarter with fares up 12.4% to $229.95 on average. JetBlue's load factor improved sharply to 86.1% from 79.9%.

During Q3, JBLU paid down $66M dollars of debt, funded $260M in capital expenditures, and paid $25M related to the Spirit transaction. The favorable Spirit shareholder vote on October 19 also triggered the prepayment of $272M in Q4 under the terms of the merger agreement.

JetBlue ( JBLU ) said it remains focused on maintaining a healthy liquidity position. "Looking ahead, we expect our profitability to carry through to another solid quarter of mid-single-digit pre-tax margins in the fourth quarter, and we’ll look to expand on that further in 2023 as we continue to restore our earnings power," noted JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes.

Shares of JetBlue ( JBLU ) fell 1.72% premarket trading to $7.41.

The Seeking Alpha Quant Rating on JetBlue ( JBLU ) is still at Hold, but the quant score ranks higher than JBLU target Spirit Airlines, SkyWest, Mesa Airlines, Allegiant Travel and Hawaiian Holdings.

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