Leisure travel group Allegiant Travel Co. (ALGT) reported Monday that profit for the third quarter soared from last year, boosted by strong revenue growth as well as higher operating margins. Earnings per share for the quarter climbed and topped analysts' expectations by five cents. The company also promoted its Managing Director - Planning and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Levy to also assume the additional title of president.
In a statement, chairman and chief executive officer, Maurice Gallagher, Jr. said, "We are pleased to report these very strong results in not only our historically weakest quarter, but also in what has been an exceptionally trying economic environment. Moreover these results were produced with a 47% increase in scheduled service departures over the third quarter of 2008."
The Las Vegas, Nevada-based parent company of Allegiant Air and Allegiant Vacations reported net income of $13.78 million or $0.68 per share for the third quarter that surged from $4.89 million or $0.24 per share in the year-ago quarter.
On average, eight analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the company to post earnings of $0.63 per share for the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total operating revenue for the quarter rose 13.9% to $133.11 million from $116.89 million in the same quarter last year, and topped three Wall Street analysts' consensus estimate of $130.45 million.
Operating income for the third quarter climbed to $21.94 million from $8.11 million in the prior-year quarter, while operating margin soared 9.6 percentage points to 16.5% from last year's 6.9%.
Total operating expenses was $111.17 million, up 2.2% from $108.77 million in the year-ago quarter.
For the third quarter, Allegiant's total system traffic was up 36.8% at 1.17 billion revenue passenger miles, or RPMs from 858.10 million RPMs in the year-ago quarter. Capacity rose 42.7% to 1.35 billion available seat miles, or ASMs from 946.37 million ASMs in the prior-year quarter. However, total system load factor was down 3.8 percentage points at 86.9% compared to 90.7% in the same quarter last year.
Scheduled Service traffic for the quarter rose 47% to 1.10 billion RPMs from 745.2 million RPMs in the year-ago quarter. Capacity rose 53.4% to 1.22 billion ASMs from from 794.73 million ASMs in the prior-year quarter. However, load factor declined 3.9 percentage points at 89.9% compared to 93.8% in the same quarter last year.
For the nine-month period, the company reported net income of $65.79 million or $3.23 per share, sharply higher than $17.21 million or $0.84 per share in the year-ago period.
Total operating revenue for the year-to-date period rose 10.9% to $423.21 million from $381.58 million in the same period last year.
"Looking forward, we are cautiously optimistic that better times are in the offing. Scheduled fares, both air fare and ancillary per passenger, bounced off their lows of the second quarter. It's a little early to declare victory, but we certainly like the trend, which is continuing into the fourth quarter. Speaking of the fourth quarter, please note that last year we enjoyed a powerful combination of low fuel prices and air fares that had not declined, which makes the fourth quarter of 2008 a very difficult comp," Gallagher added.
In a separate release, Allegiant Travel promoted its Managing Director - Planning and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Levy to also assume the additional title of president. Gallagher, who previously held the title, continues to remain only as chief executive officer and chairman. Allegiant Travel further revealed that Montie Brewer has been elected to the Board of Directors.
Allegiant Air also provided guidance for fourth quarter, including year-over-year total system departure growth of about 15% and ASM growth of about 23%. Fourth quarter maintenance expenditure is anticipated to be in the range of $120,00 to 130,000 per aircraft per month.
Capital expenditures for the fiscal 2009 is expected to be $36 million and for fiscal 2010 about $50 million.
ALGT closed Monday's regular trading session at $39.63, up $0.98 or 2.54% on a volume of 0.36 million shares.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.