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Spirit Airlines (SAVE) Expects Q4 Load Factor at Around 70%

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With coronavirus cases witnessing a surge again in the United States, the slight improvement in air-travel demand has taken a beating. Consequently, the Miramar, FL-based ultra low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines’ (SAVE - Free Report) ticket revenue per passenger flight segment is anticipated to remain suppressed in the December quarter.

However, non-ticket revenues per passenger flight segment (non-fare passenger revenue and other revenue divided by passenger flight segments) are likely to be strong despite the pandemic woes. The carrier expects non-ticket revenues per passenger flight segment to decrease modestly from $58.03 registered in fourth-quarter 2019.

Load factor (% of passengers occupying seats) is expected to average at roughly 70% in fourth-quarter 2020. The carrier had recorded load factor of 84.8% in fourth-quarter 2019. For the final quarter of this year, the company still expects average daily cash burn to be about $2 million per day. The adverse impact of the likely lower revenues in the December quarter on cash burn is being partly offset by the issuance of credit vouchers instead of refunds for the majority of passenger cancellations.

Fuel price per gallon is anticipated to be $1.31, up 8 cents from the initial expectation of $1.23. However, the current estimate indicates a fall from the year-ago reported figure of $2.10. The expectation for adjusted operating expenses is also lowered to $660-$670 million from the earlier guided range of $675-685 million. Lower costs are likely to aid bottom-line performance. Spirit Airlines expects EBITDA margin for the December quarter between -15% and -20%.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Spirit Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Zacks Transportation sector are Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX - Free Report) , Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR - Free Report)  and Herc Holdings Inc. (HRI - Free Report) . Landstar carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while Knight-Swift and Herc sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Long-term expected earnings per share (three to five years) growth rate for Knight-Swift, Landstar and Herc Holdings is pegged at 15%, 12% and 12.6%, respectively.

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