Air France-KLM shares soar 12%, among the strongest gains in the SBF 120, after its Q3 results
The Franco-Dutch airline group surges in the morning, on the day it publishes its third-quarter accounts. The Paris session is well oriented, but the stock clearly outperforms the broader index.
The stock moves back above its three moving averages after a week of +22.7%
Air France-KLM gains 11.93% to €12.62, second in the SBF 120 behind SES, while the index rises 0.53%.
The move extends an already very favorable week (+22.7%) and places the price nearly 19% above its 20-day moving average (€10.62). The 50-day moving average, at €11.17, and the 200-day moving average, at €11.21, are now about 13% below the price.
The stock also broke through its highest level of the last 30 sessions, at €11.81, which has now become support. The RSI at 72 reflects an overbought configuration, and the next resistance is at €13.98.
On the analyst side, CIC Market Solutions cut its target from €13 to €12 today, with a maintained hold rating: the new target is now below the share price.
In the third quarter, unit revenues offset the fuel bill
In its accounts published this morning, the group reports revenue up 7.6% to €9.9 billion. Adjusted operating income rises by €126 million to €1,346 million. The increase in unit revenues added €592 million, while the rise in fuel costs subtracted €436 million after hedging.
KLM accounts for most of the progress, with an additional €106 million of adjusted operating income, compared with €5 million for Air France. The Dutch subsidiary nevertheless plans to reorganise around 5,000 positions, including nearly 1,000 job cuts by 2028.
The stock trades at about 3.9 times the expected earnings for the current financial year, according to the consensus of the analysts surveyed. It had fallen 17.5% over three months as of October 19, before this rebound.
