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(Reuters) - Shares in American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O surged more than 20% in opening trading after the carrier was mentioned on Reddit s WallStreetBets forum and it posted a slimmer-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday.
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American joined rival Delta Air Lines in calling 2021 a year of recovery for an industry that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, but airlines continue to burn through millions of dollars every day and the strength of the rebound will depend on the pace of vaccine rollouts and the easing of travel restrictions.
“As we look to the year ahead, 2021 will be a year of recovery. While we don’t know exactly when passenger demand will return, as vaccine distribution takes hold and travel restrictions are lifted, we will be ready,” American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker said.
American Airlines, Comcast rise, Tesla, McCormick fall
by The Associated Press
Last Updated Jan 28, 2021 at 4:28 pm EDT
NEW YORK Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Thursday:
Tesla Inc., down $28.73 to $835.43.
The electric car maker’s fourth-quarter profit fell short of Wall Street forecasts.
Comcast Corp., up $3.18 to $51.60.
The owner of NBC’s fourth-quarter profit and revenue beat analysts forecasts.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc., up $6.67 to $180.02.
The tool company reported a surge in fourth-quarter profits as the stay-at-home trend bolstered tool sales.
American Airlines Group Inc., up $1.54 to $18.10.
The airline’s fourth-quarter loss wasn’t as severe as Wall Street anticipated.
U.S. airline shares had gained ground since November’s vaccine breakthroughs but came under renewed pressure earlier this week amid concern over new coronavirus variants and tighter restrictions.
American reported a net loss of $2.18 billion, or $3.81 per share, for the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $414 million, or 95 cents per share, a year earlier. The carrier reported an annual loss of $8.9 billion, its biggest on record.
Shares climbed 26% to $21 a share in early trading even as the heavily leveraged airline reported large losses and faces an uncertain industry outlook. Investors said the gains are likely fueled by a short squeeze. American is the most heavily shorted airline stock, according to data from S3.
American Airlines Group Posts Adj. Loss In Q4; Revenues down 64.4%
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL) reported a fourth quarter loss per share, excluding special items, of $3.86 compared to profit of $1.15, a year ago. On average, 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss per share of $4.11, for the quarter. Analysts estimates typically exclude special items.
Fourth quarter total operating revenues were $4.03 billion, down 64.4 percent from a year ago on a 53% reduction in total available seat miles. Analysts expected revenue of $3.88 billion, for the quarter.
American expects first-quarter system capacity to be down 45% year-on-year, with total revenue expected to be down 60 to 65%.
David Koenig
An American Airlines Boeing 777 is framed by utility wires as it prepares to land at Miami International Airport, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Miami. The airline said Thursday that it lost $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter, with revenue plunging by nearly two-thirds from a year earlier. And the airline lost $8.9 billion for the full year after earning nearly $1.7 billion in 2019. .(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) January 28, 2021 - 2:11 PM
DALLAS - Just how bad was 2020 for the airline industry? The six biggest U.S. airlines lost $34 billion, and Southwest suffered its first full-year loss since Richard Nixon was president and gasoline sold for 36 cents a gallon.