Spirit Airlines shares down as investors rally ahead of potential takeover
Spirit Airlines Inc. has fallen as investors rallied ahead of a possible takeover by a Chinese group, and analysts and traders remain on edge.
The shares fell 2.8% to $11.50 after touching a high of $13.70 earlier Wednesday.
The stock has been on a tear, up more than 10% in the past year.
A recent report from UBS said the airline was poised to close a record $200 million in revenue this year, up from $120 million last year.
It was the company's first-ever quarterly revenue report.
Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. were up 0.5% at $12.55.
The airline's stock has lost over 50% since the beginning of 2017, after the company was spun off from Continental Holdings Holdings Inc., which is controlled by Chinese state-owned airline Shanghai Airlines Group.
In the first half of 2018, Spirit Airlines reported $9.8 billion in revenue, up 3% from the same period last year, according to the company.
In the first nine months of this year its revenue was $9 billion, up 24%.
The company is the only airline to report annual revenue in the $100 billion to $200 billion range.
The company has been struggling since the start of the year, as investors have turned away from Spirit due to the economic crisis and a shortage of seats on planes, said Robert Clements, an analyst at Piper Jaffray LLC.
While the airline is struggling to fill its seats, airlines have been forced to cut fares and have been cutting back on amenities, Clements said.
Spirit Airlines has been forced by the economic downturn to increase service to compensate for the reduced revenue.
It has also been forced in the last few weeks to increase fares for its passengers and passengers who are already on the airline.
In addition, the airline has been reducing the number of seats, reducing service, and adding service that is not comparable to its competitors, said Clements.
The company's profit was up 1.6% to about $5.4 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
Spirit reported net loss of $4.2 billion for the first three months of the fiscal year, down from $4 billion a year ago.
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