American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL.US) raises profit forecast for 2025, capacity cuts help ticket prices rebound.

American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL.US) released its third-quarter earnings report before the opening of the market on Thursday, and raised its profit forecast for 2025, indicating that the capacity reduction measures implemented by the industry after a decrease in demand earlier this year have begun to bring in pricing gains. Data shows that the total operating revenue of American Airlines Group Inc. increased slightly to around $13.69 billion, exceeding the market expectation of $13.63 billion. Data compiled by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) shows that in the quarter ending in September, this American Airlines Group Inc. reported an adjusted loss of 17 cents per share, better than the average analyst expectation of a loss of 28 cents per share. As of the time of writing, the airline's stock price has risen nearly 5% in pre-market trading. Earlier this year, with the uncertainty caused by the large-scale tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, domestic travel demand in the United States slowed down, putting airlines in a difficult situation and forcing them to fill flight seats through price reductions. Subsequently, major airlines have cut capacity in order to regain pricing power and protect profit margins. The Texas-based airline said that unit revenue, a key measure of its pricing power, improved compared to the previous quarter, with September marking the return of positive growth for this metric. The airline also noted that domestic travel demand has improved as Americans show resilience to economic uncertainty. American Airlines Group Inc. currently expects adjusted earnings per share to be between 65 cents and 95 cents for the full year, a significant shift from the expectation of a loss of 20 cents to a profit of 80 cents in July. Meanwhile, high-profit margin premium services continue to perform strongly, with affluent passengers still willing to pay a premium for a more comfortable journey. In the post-pandemic era, airlines have increased their investment in premium services. American Airlines Group Inc. stated on Thursday: "The year-over-year growth in unit revenue for premium services continues to outpace that of economy class." On Wednesday, its domestic competitor Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV.US) reported an unexpected profit, benefiting from the improvement in travel bookings.