By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Mesa Air Group Inc (NASDAQ:MESA), the regional airline based in Phoenix, has seen its stock slide over 24% Friday following the announcement of its fourth quarter results, including a per-share loss and revenue that fell short of expectations.
After the bell Thursday, the company announced a loss per share of 6 cents on revenue of $130.78 million. Analysts polled by Investing.com expected an EPS of 12 cents on revenue of $150.65 million.
Mesa's Chairman and CEO, Jonathan Ornstein, explained that it had been a "difficult year" for the company with the quick contraction and expansion of demand taxing for the industry.
"Due to the timing of regular and deferred maintenance events, the supply of labor, and fluctuating prices in the supply chain, exiting Covid is proving to be more challenging than entering it," said Ornstein.
He added that while Mesa has managed better than most major and regional airlines, it was not immune to the challenges and they are now expecting the issues currently impacting costs to spill over into the next two quarters.
As expected, analysts moved to adjust their price targets on Mesa in reaction to the news, with Raymond James cutting it to $12.50 (though from $13) and Cowen slashing their target to $7 from $12.50.
Deutsche Bank moved to downgrade the stock to Hold from Buy, also cutting its price target to $7 from $15. Analyst Michael Linenberg said the company is facing elevated cost pressures over the next two quarters from training/staffing due to a higher turnover and increased maintenance costs resulting from supply chain challenges.