JetBlue Airways Corp.’s stock dropped sharply Tuesday to its lowest levels in more than a decade after the carrier warned it would post a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss, while it missed analyst estimates for its third-quarter loss and revenue.
“While we have been able to offset some of the costs associated with the challenging operational backdrop, the sheer magnitude of the air traffic control and weather-related delays has been staggering,” the carrier said.
The stock
JBLU,
sank 16.3% to $3.51 a share after it opened at the lowest price seen during regular-session hours since November 2011. If the losses hold, it’ll be the lowest close for Jet Blue stock since Nov. 23, 2011, when it ended the session at $3.40 a share.
JetBlue said it lost $153 million, or 46 cents a share in the third quarter. In the year-ago quarter, JetBlue reported net income of $57 million, or 18 cents a share.
Adjusted loss in the latest quarter was 39 cents a share, wider than the FactSet consensus estimate for a loss of 25 cents a share.
JetBlue’s revenue fell 8% to $2.35 billion, below the analyst estimate of $2.38 billion.
For the fourth quarter, JetBlue expects to report an adjusted loss of 55 cents to 35 cents a share against an analyst estimate of a loss of 15 cents a share.
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JetBlue’s stock has plunged 46% over the past three months through Monday, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF
JETS
has tumbled 29.7% and the S&P 500 index
SPX
has lost 9.2%.