Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) incurred a loss of 59 cents per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended March 31, 2025)compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 65 cents per share. Loss per share was 52 cents in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
Revenues of $14.9 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.52 billion and improved year over year.
Traffic, despite repeated Boeing delivery delays, grew 9% year over year to 200.2 million passengers. Load factor of 94% remainedflat on a year-over-year basis, reflecting consistent passenger demand for the airline's services.
Ryanair Holdings PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Ryanair Holdings PLC Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Average fares were down 7% year over year. RYAAY’s profit after tax fell 16% year over year.
Operating costs grew 9% year over year, owing to higher staff and other costs, which were in part due to Boeing delivery delays. This was partially offset by fuel hedge savings.
During fiscal 2025, Ryanair purchased and canceled 7% of its issued share capital, comprising more than 77 million shares, and has now retired almost 36% of its issued share capital since 2008. In line with its capital allocation policy, €0.40 cummulative dividends per share were paid during fiscal 2025 and a final dividend of €0.227 per share is due in September (subject to AGM approval).
During fiscal 2026, RYAAY plans to pay down maturing bond debt (which includes an €850 million bond in September 2025 and €1.2 billion in May 2026), while still funding its aircraft and engine capex from internal resources.
In April 2025, RYAAY repurchased almost 1 million shares, completing the €800 million share buyback program. In May 2025, RYAAY’s board approved a follow-on €750 million share buyback program, which will likely run for the next six to 12 months.
Ryanair expects its fiscal 2026 traffic to grow by just 3% to 206 million passengers due to delayed Boeing deliveries. Following a year of flat unit costs, RYAAY anticipates modest unit cost inflation in fiscal 2026 as the delivery of more Gamechangers, strong jet fuel hedging and cost control across the company’s Group airlines help offset increased route & air traffic control charges and higher environmental costs.
RYAAY’s Zacks Rank and Price Performance
Currently, RYAAY sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Shares of RYAAY have gained 14.7% so far this year against a 9.4% decline of the Zacks Airline industry.
RYAAY Stock YTD Price Comparison
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Key Sectoral Player to Report Q1 results
We note that another player from the broader Zacks Transportation sector, ZTO Express (ZTO), will report its first-quarter earnings numbers later this month. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)
ZTO is scheduled to report first-quarter 2025 results on May 20, after market close. ZTO Express now expects its 2025 parcel volume guidance to be in the range of 40.8 billion-42.2 billion. The updated guidance represents an increase of 20-24% year over year. The ongoing trade war between the United States and China is also anticipated to have an impact on the to-be-reported quarter’s results. An update on the same is also expected at the first-quarter conference.
Moreover, revenues from ZTO’s freight forwarding services unit are expected to have been hurt by freight demand weakness. An update on the ongoing trade war between the United States and China is also expected at the first-quarter conference.
Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
United Airlines
United Airlines’ UAL first-quarter 2025 earnings per share (excluding 25 cents from non-recurring items) of 91 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents. In the year-ago quarter, the Chicago-based airline reported a loss of 15 cents per share.
Operating revenues of $13.21 billion fell marginally short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.22 billion. The top line increased 5.4% year over year despite the tariff-induced slowdown in domestic air travel demand. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 89.7% of the top line) rose 4.8% year over year to $11.9 billion. UAL flights transported 40,806 passengers in the first quarter, up 3.8% year over year.
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air LinesDAL reported first-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 9 cents from non-recurring items) of 46 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents. Earnings increased 2.2% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.
Revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.04 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.81 billion and increasing 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) rose 3.3% year over year to $13 billion.
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