Copa Holdings (CPA) Traffic, Load Factor Rise In August

Latin American carrier, Copa Holdings, S.A. (NYSE:CPA) , posted a substantial rise in traffic for August. Traffic — measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) — came in at 1.82 billion, up 16% on a year-over-year basis.

Consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) expanded 14.2% to 2.13 billion. As the increase in traffic outpaced growth in capacity, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) improved 140 basis points (bps) to 85.1% in the same month.

For the first eight months of 2017, Copa Holdings generated RPMs of 13.24 billion (up 13.3% year over year) and ASMs of 15.92 billion (up 8.5%). Load factor registered growth of 350 bps year over year to 83.1%, during the period.

Markedly, Copa Holdings, like its fellow Latin American carrier GOL Linhas (NYSE:GOL) , is benefiting from an improved Latin American economy. Evidently, the stock has performed well this year. The company has gained 45.5%, outperforming its industry’s rally of 10.4% on a year-to-date basis.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Copa Holdings carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the airline space includeRyanair Holdings (NASDAQ:RYAAY) and SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) , each holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of Ryanair and SkyWest have gained more than 28% and 9%, respectively, on a year-to-date basis.

4 Promising Stock Picks to Keep an Eye On

With news stories about computer hacking and identity theft becoming increasingly commonplace, the cybersecurity industry looks like a promising investment opportunity. But which stocks should you buy? Zacks just released Cybersecurity: An Investor’s Guide to Locking Down Profits to help answer this question.

This new Special Report gives you the information you need to make well-informed investment choices in this space. More importantly, it also highlights 4 cybersecurity picks with strong profit potential.

Get the new Investing Guide now>>