American Airlines earnings in the second quarter exceed expectations

Strong travel demand helped American Airlines to report slightly better than expected earnings for the second quarter, but the largest US airline said it suffered a prolonged grounding of the Boeing 737 Max.

American posted earnings per share of $ 1.82 on an adjusted basis, compared to the $ 1.80 expected by badysts. The Fort Worth-based airline has raised its earnings outlook for the year to a range of $ 4.50 to $ 6 a share from previous expectations for earnings per share of $ 4 to $ 6.

Revenues were roughly in line with estimates, at $ 11.96 billion for the quarter ended June 30 and up nearly 3% from last year. Net income increased by almost 19% over the previous year to reach $ 662 million.

The airline canceled thousands of flights in the quarter due to the grounding of the 737 Max, which reduced its pre-tax income by approximately $ 175 million. American has more than 900 aircraft in its fleet of more than 900 aircraft and 76 more on order.

Earlier this month, American had pulled the planes out of its schedule until November 2nd. On Thursday, he announced that the grounding would bring his pre-tax profits of $ 400 million this year.

Shares fell by nearly 2% in pre-sale transactions.

Leaders will hold a call with badysts at 8:30 am EST.