American Airlines Beats Second-Quarter Revenue Estimates as Travel Recovers

American Airlines Beats Second-Quarter Revenue Estimates as Travel Recovers
American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway, at Tulsa International Airport in Tulsa, Okla., on March 23, 2020. (Nick Oxford/Reuters)
Reuters
7/22/2021
Updated:
7/22/2021

American Airlines Group beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter revenue on the back of a recovery in demand as leisure travel rebounds from pandemic lows.

The airline reported positive cash flow in the second quarter for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, reversing a trend of cash burn of about $100 million a day when global travel had ground to a halt.

The airline reported a cash build rate of about $1 million per day in the second quarter.

Excluding items, the company posted a second-quarter net loss of $1.1 billion, or $1.69 per share.

The U.S. airline posted a net income of $19 million—or 3 cents per share—in the quarter ended June 30, compared with a loss of $2.07 billion—or $4.82 per share—a year earlier.

Total operating revenue jumped 361 percent to $7.48 billion. Analysts, on average, expected a revenue of $7.34 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

American ended the second quarter with about $21.3 billion of total available liquidity.

By Sanjana Shivdas