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Ryanair (RYAAY) Expects Impressive August Traffic Numbers

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According to a Reuters report, Irish carrier Ryanair Holdings (RYAAY - Free Report) expects to carry more passengers in August than the actual figure in July. We remind investors that Ryanair carried 18.7 million passengers in July, which itself is a record. The load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) in July was as high as 96%.

Per Eddie Wilson, the head of Ryanair DAC, the largest airline in the group, "It should be slightly more (than July) ... people are still travelling". Healthy booking trends have resulted in the upbeat expectation.

Ryanair has been benefitting from the stronger-than-expected recovery in air travel demand from the pandemic lows. While passenger volumes continue to be strong, what is all the more encouraging is the strong bounce back of international travel.

Ryanair expects its traffic for fiscal 2024 to be 183.5 million. In spite of upbeat passenger volumes, RYAAY continues to be hurt due to headwinds like air traffic control strikes and potential further Boeing delivery delays. Due to the challenges, management trimmed its fiscal 2024 traffic forecast to 183.5 million from 185 million.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Ryanair currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).Investors interested in the Zacks Airline industry may also consider stocks like United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) and Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report)  While UAL sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), DAL carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

United Airlines is seeing steady recovery in domestic and international air-travel demand. Owing to this, UAL expects revenues for the September quarter to grow 10-13% year over year. Our third-quarter total revenue estimate hints at an increase of 11.4% year over year.

For third-quarter 2023, United Airlines anticipates capacity to improve 16% from the year-ago reported figure. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for UAL’s current-year earnings has been revised 19.7% upward over the past 60 days.

Improved air-travel demand, particularly on the domestic front, is aiding Delta. Due to the positive, DAL reported better-than-expected earnings per share and revenues in second-quarter 2023. Third-quarter earnings are forecast in the range of $2.2-$2. 5 per share.

Management raised its earnings per share outlook for the current year. The company now estimates 2023 earnings (on an adjusted basis) in the band of $6-$7 per share (previous view: $6 per share). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DAL’s current-year earnings has been revised 23.5% upward over the past 60 days.


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