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Air Lease (AL) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Fall Short of Estimates

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Air Lease Corporation (AL - Free Report) reported lower-than-expected first-quarter 2024 results, wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.  

AL’s quarterly earnings per share (excluding 44 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.31 fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.49. Results were hurt by high expenses. Quarterly earnings, however, improved 23.6% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues of $663.3 million lagged the consensus mark of $682.4 million. However, the top line improved 4.27% year over year owing to continuous growth in the company’s fleet.

Other Statistics

Revenues from the rental of flight equipment edged down 0.6% year over year to $614.3 million in the reported quarter. Revenues from aircraft sales, trading activity and other sources surged in excess of 100% year over year to $49 million.

Operating expenses increased 10.5% on a year-over-year basis to $528 million. High interest expenses led to this uptick. AL made high interest payments on funds borrowed to finance aircraft buys.

Air Lease Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Air Lease Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Air Lease Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Air Lease Corporation Quote

During the March quarter, the company took delivery of 14 jets from its order book. This represented $900 million in aircraft investments. Riding on the new deliveries, AL exited the quarter with 472 aircraft in its owned fleet and $31 billion in total assets.

Air Lease exited the quarter with $554.4 million in cash and cash equivalents compared with $460.9 million at 2023-end. Debt financing, net of discount and issuance costs amounted to $19.48 billion compared with $19.2 billion at 2023-end.

In May, Air Lease’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 21 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on Jul 8, 2024, to shareholders of record as of Jun 4, 2024.

Zacks Rank

Currently, Air Lease carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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

Q1 Performances of Some Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 39 cents from non-recurring items) of 45 cents per share, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents. Earnings increased 80% on a year-over-year basis.

Revenues of $13.75 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.84 billion and increased 7.75% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $12.56 billion, up 6% year over year. Delta expects adjusted earnings of $2.20-$2.50 per share for second-quarter 2024.

CSX Corporation's (CSX - Free Report) first-quarter 2024 earnings per share of 46 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. However, the bottom line declined 4% year over year.

Total revenues of $3.68 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.65 billion. The top line decreased 1% year over year due to a lower fuel surcharge, a decline in other revenues, low trucking revenues and reduced export coal prices.


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