By Dean Seal
Shares of JetBlue Airways dropped after the company laid out tepid guidance for the first quarter, overshadowing solid results for the last three months of 2024.
The carrier said Tuesday that revenue per available seat mile, a common efficiency metric for airlines, is expected to rise no more than 3.5% and potentially tick down by half a percentage point in the first quarter. Analysts polled by FactSet had been forecasting a 4.9% rise in unit revenue.
The stock fell 7.9% at $7.45 in premarket trading. Shares closed the market at $5.53 this time a year ago.
The New York-based company said its carrying capacity should be 2% to 5% lower in the first quarter, in line with analyst estimates.
For the full year, JetBlue is guiding for unit revenue to rise 3% to 6% and for carrying capacity to be flat with 2024 levels.
The airline reported higher-than-expected revenue and a narrower loss in the last quarter of 2024 as costs came down, particularly for fuel, and demand for flights after the election came in stronger than anticipated.
Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 28, 2025 08:23 ET (13:23 GMT)
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