JetBlue Airways Crushes Estimates

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

JetBlue Airways (NAS: JBLU) reported earnings on Jan. 26. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), JetBlue Airways beat expectations on revenues and crushed expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly and earnings per share grew significantly.

Margins improved across the board.

Revenue details
JetBlue Airways booked revenue of $1.15 billion. The 13 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected revenue of $1.12 billion. Sales were 22% higher than the prior-year quarter's $940 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.08. The 13 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.04 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.08 for Q4 were 123% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.04 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 50.0%, 1,870 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 7.2%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 2.0%, 110 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $1.14 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.05.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $4.89 billion. The average EPS estimate is $0.50.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a two-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 951 members out of 1,155 rating the stock outperform, and 204 members rating it underperform. Among 308 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 252 give JetBlue Airways a green thumbs-up, and 56 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on JetBlue Airways is outperform, with an average price target of $6.62.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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