Alaska Air Group ALK is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 results on July 21, after market close.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK’s second-quarter 2026 earnings per share has been revised downward by 4.30% in the past 60 days to 97 cents. The consensus mark implies a more than 100% decline from the year-ago actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK’s second-quarter 2026 revenues is pegged at $4.09 billion, indicating 10.6% growth year over year.
ALK has a mixed earnings surprise history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters and missing twice in the remaining, delivering an average beat of 73.8%.
Alaska Air Group, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Alaska Air Group, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Alaska Air Group, Inc. Quote
Let’s see how things have shaped up for ALK this earnings season.
Factors Likely to Have Influenced ALK’s Q2 Performance
We expect ALK's performance in the to-be-reported quarter to have been boosted by an uptick in total revenues, driven by high passenger revenues, as domestic air-travel demand stabilizes.
Strong passenger traffic during the holiday travel period likely supported top-line growth in the to-be-reported quarter. Our model projects passenger revenues to have increased 9.8% year over year in the second quarter of 2026. Additionally, we estimate cargo and other revenues at $185.1 million, representing a 33.2% increase from the prior-year period.
On the contrary, geopolitical uncertainty, tariff-related pressures and persistent inflation are likely to have weighed on ALK’s operations. These headwinds might have caused volatility in passenger traffic and, in turn, limited the airline’s ability to maintain strong yields and consistent revenue growth.
What Our Model Says About ALK
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for ALK this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here.
ALK has an Earnings ESP of -0.88% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Highlights of ALK’s Q1 Earnings
ALK reported a wider-than-expected loss in the first-quarter of 2026. Revenues edged past the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company reported a loss of $1.68 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.61. In the year-ago quarter, ALK reported a loss of 77 cents per share.
Meanwhile, operating revenues of $3.30 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.27 billion. Total revenues jumped 5.2% year over year, with passenger revenues accounting for 88.5% of the top line and increasing 4% to $2.92 billion, but missing our model estimate of $2.96 billion.
Stocks to Consider
Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector that investors may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle.
Expeditors International of Washington EXPD has an Earnings ESP of +2.18% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
EXPD is set to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on Aug. 4. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Expeditors’ second-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised 1.26% upward over the past 60 days. EXPD’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, delivering an average beat of 13.96%.
Schneider National SNDR has an Earnings ESP of +3.76% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present. SNDR is scheduled to report second-quarter 2026 earnings on July 30.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2026 earnings has been revised downwards by 4.35% over the past 60 days to 22 cents. SNDR’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in one of the preceding four quarters (missing the mark twice and met the mark once in the remaining three quarters). The average miss is 17.97%.
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Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).