Hawaiian Holdings posted fourth-quarter 2023 loss (excluding 41 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.37 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $2.35. In the year-ago quarter HA posted a loss of $1.06.

Quarterly revenues of $669.1 million fell 8.5% year over year but met the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly revenues were hurt by a devastating wildfire in Lahaina in West Maui, which, in turn, affected traffic.

Notably, passenger revenues accounted for 89.9% of the top line in fourth-quarter 2023.

Scheduled airline traffic (measured by revenue passenger miles) increased 5.9% year over year, lower than our anticipation of 16.2%. Scheduled capacity (measured in available seat miles or ASM) rose 3.4% year over year to 5.1 billion, lower than our projection of 4.2%. Passenger load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved to 82.7% from 80.8% reported a year ago. The actual jump was smaller than our forecast of 90.1%.

Passenger revenue per ASM or PRASM decreased to 11.79 cents, witnessing a year-over-year fall of 10.7%. Operating revenue per ASM (RASM) fell by 11.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Quote

Average fuel cost per gallon (economic) decreased 10% year over year to $2.98 in the fourth quarter.  Operating cost per ASM or CASM, excluding aircraft fuel and non-recurring items, inched down 1% year over year to 15.30 cents at fourth-quarter 2023 end.

Liquidity

As of Dec 31, 2023, the company had unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $0.9 billion, and outstanding debt and finance lease obligations of $1.7 billion.

Q1 2024 Outlook

RASM is expected to go down to 1-2% from first-quarter 2023 figures.

Capacity is anticipated to increase 2.5-5.5% from the year-ago levels.

Costs per ASM (excluding fuel & non-recurring items) are suggested to climb 8-11% (non-GAAP figures) from the prior-year levels.

Gallons of jet fuel consumed are forecast to rise 4-7% from the year-earlier levels.

The effective tax rate is envisioned to be around 21%.

Fuel price per gallon is expected to be $2.71 by the end of first-quarter 2024.

2024 Outlook

The below expectations are in comparison with full-year 2023 actuals.

Gallons of jet fuel consumed are now suggested to increase 4-7%.    

Fuel price per gallon is anticipated to be $2.59.

ASMs are now expected to improve 6-9%.    

Capital Expenditure is still projected in the range of $500-$550 million.

Hawaiian Holdings currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q4 Performance of Some Other Transportation Companies

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s (JBHT Quick QuoteJBHT - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2023 earnings of $1.47 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.74 and declined 23.4% year over year.

JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3,303.70 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,236.2 million but fell 9.5% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, fell 6% year over year.

Delta Air Lines (DAL Quick QuoteDAL - Free Report) reported fourth-quarter 2023 earnings (excluding $1.88 from non-recurring items) of $1.28 per share, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.17. Earnings, however, declined 13.51% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.

Revenues of $14,223 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14,069.5 million and increased 5.87% on a year-over-year basis driven by strong holiday-air-travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $13,661 million, up 11% year over year.