Wizz Air (WIZZ.UK) shares are down 27% today, their biggest one-day loss since the pandemic, as a disappointing financial report for the last quarter and a worrying cost outlook for the year missed analysts’ expectations.
Key reasons for the drop:
- Rising costs despite capacity growth: The company said its unit cost (CASK) excluding fuel will rise year-on-year, despite a planned 20% increase in capacity (ASK*). That puts pressure on margins and risks to revenues.
- Fleet issues and lack of clear outlook: Wizz Air continues to struggle with the grounding of some aircraft due to problems with its GTF engines. As of the end of March 2025, 37 aircraft were out of service, and that number is expected to fall to 34 by the end of the first half of the 2026 financial year. The company did not provide a detailed profit forecast for the coming year.
- Earnings quality and high debt: FY25 net profit beat consensus, but was mainly due to a one-off tax benefit rather than operating activity. EBITDA and operating profit were well below expectations, and net debt to EBITDA rose to 4.4x.
Analyst comments:
-
Morgan Stanley: Expects continued cost pressure and a 15%-30% decline in consensus earnings despite positive demand. Points to risks to revenues amid rising unit costs.
- JPMorgan: Underlines that higher non-fuel costs offset the benefits of a favorable pricing environment. Cuts earnings forecasts for the coming years by up to 25%.
- Jefferies: Results consistent with a cautious approach, with 2026 forecasts suggesting further cuts to consensus.
- Panmure Liberum: Disappointment with unit cost growth amid strong capacity growth. Points to weak earnings quality and high leverage.
Financial highlights:
- Revenue: €5,267.6 million (€5,291 million expected) – slightly below expectations (-0.4%)
- EBITDA: €1,134.3 million (€1,200 million expected) – down 5.5% on forecasts
- Operating profit (EBIT): €167.5 million (€246 million expected) – significantly below expectations (-31.9%)
- Net profit: €213.9 million (€155 million expected) – higher than consensus, mainly due to one-off tax benefits (+38%)
- EBITDA margin: 21.5% (no exact consensus)
- Passenger numbers: 63.4 million (63.47 million expected) – practically in line with expectations
- Load factor: 91.2% (91.6% expected) – slightly below forecasts
- Fleet: 231 aircraft (229.77 expected) – slightly above expectations
- Unit cost ex-fuel (CASK ex-fuel): 2.85 euro cents (2.72 expected) – higher than forecasted (+4.8%)
Wizz Air (WIZZ.UK) shares are down 27% today and are falling by a huge gap to the lows of 2024. The RSI indicator is below 30 points. Source: xStation 5
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Create account Try a demo Download mobile app Download mobile app*ASK (Available Seat Kilometers) is an indicator used in aviation that means the total number of available passenger seats multiplied by the number of kilometers the aircraft is able to fly.
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