American Airlines slashed its 2026 profit outlook again as fuel costs keep climbing

The company now anticipates full-year adjusted results landing anywhere between a 65-cent-per-share loss and a 65-cent-per-share gain, it said Thursday — a broader spread than the April forecast, which had set the floor at a 40-cent loss and the ceiling at $1.10 in earnings per share, according to CNBC.

American stock fell in premarket trading on Thursday.

For the second quarter, the airline reported record total revenue of $16.7 billion, up 16.3% from the same period a year earlier. Net income came in at $71 million, or $0.11 per diluted share. Adjusted net income was $99 million, or $0.15 per diluted share. That beat analyst expectations of 3 cents adjusted earnings per share, according to CNBC. Revenue of $16.74 billion also topped analyst expectations of $16.71 billion.

The strong revenue performance was not enough to fully counteract a surge in fuel costs. Aircraft fuel and related taxes reached $4.9 billion in the second quarter, up 83.3% from the same period a year earlier. The average fuel price rose to $4.05 per gallon, compared with $2.29 per gallon a year earlier — a 77.1% increase. The company said strong demand and execution offset nearly 50% of the more than $2.2 billion year-over-year fuel expense increase.

For the third quarter, American expects revenue to grow between 16% and 19% year over year, with capacity up between 3% and 5%. The company guided for an adjusted loss per diluted share of between $1.00 and $1.60 in the third quarter, based on the forward fuel curve as of the time of reporting.

American CEO Robert Isom and CFO Devon May have been working to close a widening profit gap with rivals Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, while carrying approximately $35 billion in debt. United outearned American by roughly $3 billion last year, while Delta's advantage over American ran to nearly $5 billion, according to prior Quartz coverage.

On the demand side, the company reported second-quarter managed corporate revenue growth of 26% year over year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in that category. AAdvantage loyalty program enrollments grew more than 30% year over year in the quarter.