Earnings Preview: Is American Airlines Pulling Out of Its Tailspin?
Last week, two of the three largest airlines in the world reported their third-quarter earnings results: Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL). Both companies reported hefty losses and average daily cash burn of approximately $25 million for the quarter. While these results were bad by any objective measure, they were far better than the carriers' second-quarter results, and roughly matched the forecasts Delta and United had laid out in July.
Later this week, it will be American Airlines' (NASDAQ: AAL) turn to report earnings. As the most indebted major airline, the stakes are especially high. Here are the two most important things for investors to focus on.
Like its peers, American Airlines almost certainly slowed its cash burn last quarter relative to the second quarter. That said, American burned significantly more cash than either Delta or United in Q2, and there's good reason to suspect that this trend continued in Q3.
Source Fool.com
