European carrier, Ryanair Holdings RYAAY,has unveiled its solid traffic numbers for April 2026, reflecting its four-month straight traffic growth at a stretch so far this year. As we know, higher traffic means more passengers and with travel bookings rising across the industry, passenger revenues at Ryanair should also rise, thereby contributing to the company’s top-line growth.
Higher traffic always acts as a positive indicator of the company’s prospects. Given this backdrop, the question that naturally arises is: Should investors buy, hold, or sell RYAAY stock now? A more in-depth analysis is needed to make that determination. Before diving into RYAAY’s investment prospects, let’s take a glance at its financial numbers.
Ryanair’s April Traffic Numbers Show Four-Month Straight Growth
The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 19.3 million in April 2026, reflecting a 5% year-over-year increase. Apart from a year-over-year surge, RYAAY’s traffic in April was much more than the March reading of 15.8 million, the February reading of 13.3 million and the January reading of 12.7 million, highlighting continued momentum from the beginning of the year.
Ryanair’s load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) remained flat year over year as well as sequentially at 93% in April 2026, reflecting stable and consistent demand for the carrier’s services. However, it improved from the load factor of 92% reported in February 2026 and 91% reported in January 2026.
RYAAY operated more than 1,08,000 flights in April 2026. This marks an improvement from 88,000 flights operated in March 2026, 75,000 flights operated in February 2026 and 73,000 flights operated in January2026, reflecting expanded capacity to meet strong passenger demand.
We would like to remind investors that Ryanair carried 200.2 million passengers (traffic up 9% year over year) in its fiscal year ending March 2025, positioning itself as the first European airline to reach 200 million passengers in a single year. During fiscal 2026, RYAAY’s traffic grew 4% year over year to 208.4 million passengers.
Given the aforesaid backdrop, Ryanair has unveiled an encouraging traffic outlook for fiscal 2027 (concurrent with its fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release on May 18, 2026). RYAAY anticipates its fiscal 2027 traffic to grow by 4% to 216 million passengers.
Other Factors Working in Favor of RYAAY Stock
Ryanair’s fleet-modernization initiatives to cater to the improvement in travel demand are encouraging. The inclusion of modern planes in its fleet and the retirement of the old ones align with its environmentally friendly approach. During fiscal 2025, Ryanair took delivery of 30 new Boeing 737-8200 aircraft. The latest inclusions, apart from having all basic amenities, result in improved fuel efficiency. Concurrent with the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 (ended March 31, 2026) earnings release, RYAAY announced that it has received all 210 Boeing 737-8200 aircraft. In May 2023, 300 new Boeing 737-MAX-10 aircraft orders were placed for delivery between 2027 and 2033. Ryanair expects these fuel-efficient MAX jets to generate substantial growth.
RYAAY has a solid balance sheet that helps it reward shareholders and make debt repayments. The low-cost carrier ended the fiscal fourth quarter of 2026 with cash and cash equivalents of $6.62 billion, and made €1.2 billion debt repayments, as of March 31, 2026. During fiscal 2026, RYAAY purchased (and canceled) some 2% of issued share capital (more than 20 million shares). A final dividend of €0.195 per share is payable in September 2026 (subject to AGM approval).
Long-Term Debt to Capitalization
RYAAY’s Price Performance
Shares of RYAAY have declined in double digits so far this year. The disappointing price performance resulted in RYAAY underperforming the Zacks Airline industry in the said time frame. Additionally, RYAAY’s price performance looks unfavorable to that of other airline operators like Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) and Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) in the same timeframe.
RYAAY Stock’s YTD Price Comparison
Headwinds Weighing on RYAAY Stock
Production delays at Boeing have been hurting the fleet-related plans of most airline companies, and it is no different for RYAAY. The company is actively in talks with Boeing leadership to speed up aircraft deliveries and has also visited Seattle at the beginning of January. Although B737 production is recovering from Boeing’s strike in late 2024, it is still slow to deliver sufficient aircraft ahead of the summer season of fiscal 2026. Additionally, Boeing expects the MAX-10 to be certified in mid-2026, followed by the delivery of the first 15 MAX-10s in Spring 2027 (with 300 of these fuel-efficient aircraft delivery due by March 2034).
Escalating operating expenses due to high staff costs and higher air traffic control fees are hurting Ryanair’s bottom line. During fiscal 2026, staff costs increased 6% year over year due to higher salaries and agreed pay increases. Airport and handling charges rose 5% year over year owing to traffic growth, higher landing, ground air traffic control and handling rates. Fuel costs rose 4% year over year. As a result, total operating expenses grew 6% year over year, owing to higher staff and other costs, which were in part due to Boeing delivery delays. This was partially offset by fuel hedge savings. High costs naturally put pressure on margins.
What Do Earnings Estimates Say for Ryanair?
The negative sentiment surrounding Ryanair stock is evident from the fact that the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current quarter as well as for full-year earnings has been revised southward in the past 60 days.
The favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ lack of confidence in the stock.
Time to Get Rid of Ryanair
Production delays at Boeing have been hurting the fleet-related plans of most airline companies, and it is no different for RYAAY. Escalating operating expenses due to high fuel costs, staff costs and higher air traffic control fees are likely to hurt Ryanair’s bottom line. High costs naturally put pressure on margins. Share price volatility continues to be another concern. Collectively, the aforesaid factors diminish RYAAY’s appeal as an investment at this juncture.
The negativity surrounding the stock outweighs the positives like the upbeat traffic scenario, fleet expansion efforts, solid balance sheet and consistent efforts to reward shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. So, the stock appears to be a risky bet for investors. The stock’s current Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) justifies our analysis.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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Ryanair Holdings PLC (RYAAY): Free Stock Analysis Report
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).