JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) shares fell more than 8% in early Tuesday trading after the company offered a weak full-year profit forecast.
The carrier reported a Q2 profit per share of $0.45, just ahead of the consensus of $0.44. Revenue came in at $2.6 billion, slightly missing the $2.61B consensus target.
“Thanks to the hard work of our fantastic Crewmembers, we generated our highest quarterly profit since 2019, demonstrating the progress we have made since the pandemic. These results were underpinned by record quarterly revenues and strong operational performance, reflecting the benefits from our significant investments and robust preparations for the peak summer travel period,” said Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s chief executive officer.
On a full-year basis, the company sees EPS of $0.05-0.40, a large miss compared to the $0.78 consensus. Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s president and chief operating officer, blamed this soft guidance on “near-term headwinds.”
Issues “related to the termination of the NEA, a challenging operating environment in the northeast and a greater than expected shift of pent-up COVID demand to long-haul international markets” are pressuring demand for domestic travel during the peak summer travel period, Geraghty added.
“While we remain on track to deliver a profitable year and record revenue performance, we are taking action, including redeploying capacity to mitigate these current challenges and improve margins.”