Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) reported a fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 (ended March 31, 2026) loss of 86 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 95 cents per share.
Revenues of $2.94 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.89 billion and improved year over year. The top line benefited from higher traffic, higher fares and the spend per passenger rose.
Ryanair Holdings PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Ryanair Holdings PLC price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ryanair Holdings PLC Quote
Traffic grew 4% year over year to 208.4 million passengers, despite delivery delays on 29 B-8200 aircraft. The load factor of 94% remained flat on a year-over-year basis. Operating costs grew 6% year over year.
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).
RYAAY anticipates its fiscal 2027 traffic to grow by 4% to 216 million passengers. While 80% of the fiscal 2027 jet-fuel requirements are hedged at $67 per barrel (lower than the prior year), the price of unhedged 20% has risen owing to the Middle East conflict. Environmental taxes are expected to rise by a further €300m this year. If unhedged fuel prices remain at current elevated levels, then fiscal 2027 unit costs are likely to rise by a mid-single digit percentage.
The final fiscal 2027 outcome remains exposed to adverse external developments such as ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine, fuel supply availability issues, higher fuel prices on the company’s unhedged 20%, macro-economic issues and European ATC strikes & mismanagement. Ryanair is hopeful of delivering a transparent situation on pricing and fuel costs during its first-quarter fiscal 2027 results, slated to be unveiled in late July.
Currently, RYAAY carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported first-quarter 2026 earnings (excluding $1.08 from non-recurring items) of 64 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents. Earnings increased 39.1% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs. Adjusted revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.2 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14 billion and increasing on a year-over-year basis.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported solid first-quarter 2026 results wherein the company’s earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as improved on a year-over-year basis.
UAL's first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 95 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.19 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 and increased 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $1.00-$1.50.
Operating revenues of $14.6 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.3 billion and increased 10.5% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.1% of the top line) increased 11% year over year to $13.1 billion. UAL flights transported 42,486 passengers in the first quarter, up 4.1% year over year.
Cargo revenues fell 1.6% year over year to $422 million. Revenues from other sources rose 10.5% year over year to $1.02 billion.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT posted first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.49, up 27% from $1.17 a year ago. The result topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.04, a 2.8% surprise.
Operating revenues totaled $3.06 billion, rising 4.6% year over year. Revenues beat the consensus mark of $2.94 billion, resulting in a 3.9% surprise, as demand proved resilient across several service offerings, led by Intermodal volume growth and higher revenue per load in select highway-related businesses.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).