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American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) joined peers in reporting strong earnings for Q2.
The Fort Worth-based airline reported non-GAAP EPS of $1.92 beating the $1.59 estimate while record quarterly revenue of $14.1B beat the $13.73B estimate. The carrier raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance to between $3.00 and $3.75 per diluted share from $2.50 to $3.50.
The company’s forecasts include the estimated impact of anticipated new labor agreements.
“It was another fantastic quarter for American, driven by the hard work of our team to deliver a reliable operation for our customers and the continued strong demand for our product,” said American’s (AAL) Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom.
Last week, Delta Air Lines (DAL) said it generated record operating revenue of $14.6B during the second quarter, up 19% from a year ago. On Wednesday, UAL upped its yearly and third-quarter adjusted EPS. Q2 revenue and EPS that beat estimates. In addition, domestic margins returned to 2019 levels while international margins were well above those levels.
Paying off debt
American Airlines (AAL) reported an average load factor of approximately 86% for the quarter compared with an average load factor of 80% for the first quarter.
“Domestic and short-haul international revenue continue to perform well, and the airline has seen noticeable strength in long-haul international demand and yield performance,” the airline said.
The company reduced total debt by $387M and said strengthening the balance sheet continues to be a top priority. American (AAL) is nearly two-thirds of the way to its goal of reducing total debt by $15B by the end of 2025.
As of June 30, 2023, the carrier had reduced its total debt by approximately $9.4B from peak levels in mid-2021. Fitch upgraded AAL’s rating two notches, to B+ as it ended the quarter with about $14.9B of total available liquidity.
Shares fell 1.5% in premarket trading.
