American Airlines stock on landing mode after guidance cut

Shares of American Airlines (NYSE: AAL) took a beating on Thursday after the company lowered its guidance for the fiscal year. The company also missed the top-line projection, albeit a small margin.

Hurt by the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX and the ongoing labor contract negotiations, American Airlines said its third-quarter revenues managed to grow a modest 3% to $11.91 billion, missing the street mark of $11.93 billion.

Keeping wary of these challenges, the company also slashed its projection on FY19 adjusted EPS to $4.50 – $5.50, compared to the prior estimate of $4.50 – $6.00.

Meanwhile, American Airlines’ Q3 adjusted earnings of $1.42 per share, came in 3 cents above the street consensus.

The stock was trading down 0.5% during pre-market hours on Thursday. The stock has declined 6% in year-to-date period.

READ: Spirit Airlines (SAVE): Q3 2019 Earnings Snapshot

CEO Doug Parker said, “We are pleased to report an earnings increase of 15% and earnings per share growth of 20% for the third quarter, excluding net special items. However, we know that our results should have been better.”

Passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) grew 3% to a 14.50 cents, helped by better load factor during the quarter. TRASM increased by 2%, in line with the management’s projection.

Earlier this month, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) reported mixed quarterly results.

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