Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Updates Q4 2024 Earnings Guidance

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) updated its fourth quarter 2024 earnings guidance on Friday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 0.400-0.500 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 0.350. The company issued revenue guidance of -. Alaska Air Group also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.250-4.500 EPS.

Alaska Air Group Price Performance

Shares of ALK opened at $64.63 on Friday. Alaska Air Group has a fifty-two week low of $32.62 and a fifty-two week high of $65.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.62. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.60.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $2.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. Alaska Air Group had a return on equity of 12.81% and a net margin of 2.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.83 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Alaska Air Group will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALK. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Melius upgraded Alaska Air Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Alaska Air Group from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Alaska Air Group from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.86.

Insider Activity

In other Alaska Air Group news, CEO Joseph A. Sprague sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.38, for a total transaction of $149,683.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 19,340 shares in the company, valued at $1,245,109.20. This represents a 10.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Emily Halverson sold 1,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.41, for a total value of $85,600.89. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $460,531.50. The trade was a 15.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,473 shares of company stock worth $2,198,342. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates airlines. It operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing jet aircraft for passengers and cargo in the United States, and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and the Bahamas; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States, Canada, and Mexico.