JetBlue shares rise 5.5% premarket as airline forecasts 18%–22% growth in seat revenue
Key Facts
The move followed the company’s third-quarter results and outlook for the coming period. JetBlue reported an adjusted loss of $0.60 per share and revenue of $2.81 billion, with Investing.com describing both figures as slightly below consensus estimates. JetBlue, meanwhile, reported operating revenue of $2.812 billion, up 21.1% from the year-earlier period. Its updated guidance focused on continued growth in revenue per available seat in the fourth quarter, with capacity also expected to increase.
Revenue per available seat, a measure of revenue relative to capacity offered, rose 18.4% year over year in the third quarter, while operating capacity increased 2.3%. In an update issued on September 10, JetBlue had raised its third-quarter growth forecast for the measure to a range of 17%–20%, from 12.5%–16.5% previously. The company said the midpoint of the revised range was four percentage points above the midpoint of its earlier forecast. In its third-quarter results, JetBlue attributed most of its revenue beat to higher yields, supported by improvements in revenue-management technology. The company said demand remained resilient despite higher fuel prices, while Chief Executive Joanna Geraghty said, "Resilient demand and strong yields drove revenue to a level well above our initial expectations."
JetBlue expects revenue per available seat to grow between 18% and 22% in the fourth quarter of 2026, with capacity, measured in available seat miles, increasing between 3% and 4%. The outlook points to revenue continuing to grow faster than capacity, following an 18.4% year-over-year increase in the measure in the third quarter. The company said it recovered about 87% of the increase in fuel costs during the third quarter. It also expects the operating margin to expand year over year by one to two points in the fourth quarter. The guidance ties the company’s ability to generate higher yields to its efforts to absorb fuel cost pressure on results.
Fuel remained a drag on the accounts: its average cost was $3.91 per gallon in the third quarter, compared with $2.49 in the year-earlier period of 2025, a year-over-year increase of 57.4%. Operating cost per available seat mile rose 19.4% year over year. Excluding fuel, non-airline expenses and special items, the cost increased 7.0%. The figures show revenue growth alongside a substantial increase in operating costs, while the adjusted loss remained at $0.60 per share. In this context, the company’s outlook for the coming period depends on continued yield strength and recovery of part of the fuel cost increase.
The company ended the third quarter with liquidity of $2.2 billion, including an undrawn credit facility of $600 million. JetBlue expects an additional $250 million in aircraft-backed financing during the fourth quarter. Over the longer term, management said it was confident of achieving sustainable operating profitability in 2027, and is targeting earnings of at least $1 per share and positive free cash flow in 2028. The company links those goals to the improvement in its adjusted margin in the third quarter and its plans to recover fuel costs through yields. The earnings call was scheduled for October 27 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time to provide further details on results and guidance.
The premarket rise followed a month of steep declines in the stock; Investing.com said it had lost about 45% over the previous month. Still, the positive move after the close and before the open did not prevent third-quarter results from falling short of analyst consensus, according to the report, nor did it erase the year-over-year increase in fuel costs. The move puts the seat-revenue growth outlook and expected fourth-quarter margin expansion alongside the company’s losses and cost pressures. The market was awaiting details that management was scheduled to present on the earnings call.