Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp.
JBLU,
fell 1.6% in premarket trading Tuesday, even after the air carrier reported a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and revenue that topped forecasts, citing continued strong demand during peak periods. The company swung to a net loss of $104 million, or 31 cents a share, from net income of $24 million, or 7 cents as share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, such as costs associated with the attempt to merge with Spirit Airlines Inc.
SAVE,
and union contract costs, the adjusted per-share loss of 19 cents beat the FactSet loss consensus of 27 cents. Revenue fell 3.7% to $2.33 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $2.29 billion. Load factor was down 3.1 percentage points to 80.1%, to miss expectations of 81.6%. “As we look ahead in 2024, we are seeing positive momentum in our revenue growth,” said Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty. “Demand during peak periods remains strong, and we continue to manage our capacity during off-peak periods to reflect evolving demand trends.” The stock has soared 31% over the past three months through Monday while the S&P 500
SPX,
has advanced 18.3%.
