JetBlue Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates By a Penny

JetBlue Airways Corp. reported fourth-quarter 2013 earnings this morning and ended up beating Wall Street estimates by a penny.

The New York-based airline said fourth-quarter net income was $47 million, or 14 cents a share, beating analysts predictions of 13 cents a share. Revenue also was up 14 percent to $1.4 billion, beating Wall Street’s estimate of $13.5 billion.

Operating income of $115 million in the fourth quarter exceeded operating income of $44 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. For the full year 2013, JetBlue reported operating income of $428 million. This compares to operating income of $376 million for the full year 2012.

"Our record fourth quarter results top off an excellent 2013 for JetBlue," Dave Barger, JetBlue's Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement. "Thanks to the hard work of our 15,000 crewmembers delivering a differentiated product to our customers, margins improved as we continued to pursue profitable growth opportunities while maintaining competitive costs. As we enter 2014, we believe we are well positioned to build on our 2013 success."

But the carrier is already starting off in somewhat of a hole. JetBlue noted that the two major winter storms that have already hit this month, Hercules and Janus, reduced Q1 revenue by an estimate $45 million and operating income by $30 million.

JetBlue has always been one of the hardest-hit, if not the hardest-hit, when winter torms converge on the northeast given its home base in New York City and the number of routes it flies out of both JFK and LaGuardia, as well as Boston and Washington, D.C.

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