SkyWest Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Down Year Over Year

SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW) reported mixed fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein earnings missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues surpassed the same.

Quarterly earnings per share of $2.21 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.25 and declined 5.5% year over year. Revenues of $1.02 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $986.9 million and improved 8.5% year over year.

Revenues from flying agreements (contributing 94.7% to the top line) rose 6.3% from the prior-year reported figure of $970.36 million. The airline carried 1.2% less passengers in the reported quarter on a year-over-year basis. Departures increased 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. The passenger load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) fell 2.3 points to 79.9%.

SkyWest, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

SkyWest, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | SkyWest, Inc. Quote

Chip Childs, president and chief executive officer of SkyWest, stated, “We are honored to be named among the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune Magazine in 2026 for the third time. As we continue to strengthen our partnerships and re-invest in our product, our capital deployment strategy is focused on creating long-term value for our customers, our people, and our shareholders. I want to thank our people for their good work through the operationally challenging fourth quarter.”

Concurrent with its fourth-quarter 2025 results, SkyWest also announced that it had inked a multi-year contract extension with United Airlines UAL for 40 E175 aircraft in January 2026. SkyWest also reached a multi-year contract extension with Delta Air Lines DAL for 13 E175 aircraft in January 2026.

SkyWest had five E175 aircraft deliveries during the fourth quarter of 2025.

By 2028-end, SkyWest anticipates having nearly 300 E175 aircraft in its fleet. As previously announced, SkyWest entered into a purchase agreement with Embraer, which secures delivery positions for 44 additional E175s from 2028 through 2032 for potential future flying opportunities. SkyWest also secured purchase rights on 50 additional E175s from Embraer.

Operating expenses were $890 million, up 11% year over year, owing to an expected increase in incremental direct operating costs associated with higher production in the reported quarter and SkyWest’s maintenance on its investment in its CRJ fleet.

At the fourth-quarter end, the company had cash and marketable securities of $706.90 million compared with $753.35 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt (net of current maturities) was $1.84 billion compared with $1.86 billion reported at the end of the prior quarter.

Capital expenditures during the reported quarter were $214 million, which included the purchase of five new E175 aircraft, spare engines and other fixed assets.

SkyWest repurchased 268,000 shares for $27 million during the fourth quarter of 2025. As of Dec. 31, 2025, SkyWest had $213 million available under its current share repurchase program.

Currently, SkyWest carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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