AAL Q4 2024 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: American Airlines Group, Inc. Q4 2024 Earnings Call
• Date: January 23, 2025 at 1:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Scott Long (VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Development)
  • Robert Isom (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Devin May (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Steve Johnson (Vice Chair & Chief Strategy Officer)
  • David Seymour (Chief Operating Officer)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• American reported a fourth quarter adjusted pre-tax profit of $808 million and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $0.86.
• Full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was $1.8 billion and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.96 for 2024.
• Fourth quarter revenue was a record $13.7 billion, which was up 4.6% year over year on 2.5% higher capacity.
• Fourth quarter unit revenue inflected positive and was up 2% year over year while fourth quarter unit cost, excluding fuel and net special items, was up 5.7% year over year.
• Adjusted EBITDA margin in the fourth quarter was 14.9% and adjusted operating margin was 8.4%.
• American generated record free cash flow of $2.2 billion in 2024 and recorded nearly $350 million of working capital cash release during the year.
• Total 2024 CapEx was $2.7 billion, of which $1.9 billion related to 20 new deliveries and 10 used aircraft.

Guidance

• For 2025, American expects full-year capacity to be up low single digits versus 2024 and expects first quarter capacity to be flat to down 2% year over year.
• First quarter revenue is expected to be up 3% to 5% year over year, while full-year revenue growth is expected to be approximately 4.5% to 7.5% versus 2024.
• First quarter non-fuel unit costs are expected to be up high single digits year over year and full-year non-fuel unit costs are expected to be up mid-single digits year over year.
• American expects first quarter loss per diluted share of approximately $0.20 to $0.40 and full-year adjusted earnings per diluted share of approximately $1.70 to $2.70.
• The company expects regional ASMs to be up approximately 17% in the first quarter as regional fleet utilization returns to full levels.
• American expects more than $200 million of incremental cost savings in 2025 from reengineering initiatives and more than $100 million of additional working capital improvements.
• Based on current demand assumptions and fuel forecast, American is currently forecasting more than $2 billion of free cash flow for full-year 2025.