Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) has reported impressive traffic results for January. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs), came in at 1.82 billion up 5.8% from the year-ago figure.
On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) improved 5.4% to 2.17 billion. Load factor (% of seats filled by passengers) also expanded 40 basis points (bps) to 84% in the first month of 2018 as traffic growth outpaced capacity.
We remind investors that traffic at Copa Holdings had improved significantly in 2017 as well. The upside was backed by an increase in demand for air travel owing to an improving Latin American economy. Load factor had improved 280 basis points as capacity expansion (8.8%) was outweighed by traffic growth (12.6%) in the same time period.
Price Performance
Copa Holdings’ robust traffic growth is well reflected in its impressive price performance last year. The stock has gained 26.4%, easily outperforming the Zacks Airline industry’s 6.9% rally.
Furthermore, an impressive January traffic data is positive for the stock that competes with the likes of Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. (NYSE:GOL) and LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (NYSE:LTM) in the Latin American aviation space.
Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider
Copa Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
A better-ranked stock in the Zacks Airline industry is American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
American Airlines has seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings being revised 12.8% upward over the last 30 days.
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Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. (GOL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA): Free Stock Analysis Report
American Airlines Group, Inc. (AAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
LATAM Airlines Group S.A. (LTM): Free Stock Analysis Report
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