Last update on 2024-06-07

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) - Piotroski F-Score Analysis for Year 2023 (Final Score: 6/9)

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) achieved a Piotroski F-Score of 6/9 in 2023, indicating moderate financial health based on profitability, liquidity, and efficiency.

Short Analysis - Piotroski Score: 6

We're running JetBlue Airways (JBLU) against the Piotroski 9-criteria scoring system to assess profitability, liquidity, and operating efficiency:

The Piotroski F-Score is used to evaluate JetBlue Airways (JBLU) based on 9 financial performance criteria, covering profitability, liquidity, and operating efficiency. JetBlue achieved a moderate Piotroski score of 6 out of 9. Key metrics analyzed include Net Income, Cash Flow from Operations (CFO), Return on Assets (ROA), comparisons of Operating Cash Flow and Net Income, leverage, Current Ratio, share dilution, Gross Margin, and Asset Turnover Ratio.

Insights for Value Investors Seeking Stable Income

JetBlue presents a mixed financial picture. While it excels in areas like positive cash flow and improved Gross Margin, it struggles with net losses, higher leverage, and share dilution. With a Piotroski score of 6, it's performing averagely. Investors may want to dig deeper into the causes of JetBlue's financial challenges and weigh the risks before making a decision. It's worth keeping an eye on JetBlue for potential recovery but scrutinize further before investing.

For those who are interested in delving deeper into the specifics, the subsequent section provides a comprehensive exploration of the criteria.

Profitability of JetBlue Airways (JBLU)

Company has a positive net income?

Netincome is a measure of a company's profitability and the company's ability to generate earnings after expenses.

For the year 2023, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) reported a net income of -310 million USD. This negative result indicates a loss for the company and does not satisfy the Piotroski criterion for positive net income, resulting in a score of 0 for this parameter. Over the past two decades, JetBlue's net income has shown significant volatility, with notable highs like 1.147 billion USD in 2017, and significant lows, such as -1.354 billion USD in 2020. The persistence of losses in recent years suggests ongoing financial challenges.

Company has a positive cash flow?

The Cash Flow from Operations (CFO) determines the amount of cash a company generates from its normal business operations. It is crucial to assess its core operational efficiency.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) presents a positive CFO of 400,000,000 in 2023, earning it 1 point in the Piotroski score. Evaluating the annual data, JetBlue has maintained positive CFO in most years, except 2008 and 2020. The 2023 figure indicates efficiency and resilience amid economic conditions, although it's lower compared to the 1,642,000,000 recorded in 2021. The persistence of positive cash flows is a good trend, illustrating the company's robust cash-generating ability from its operations.

Return on Assets (ROA) are growing?

ROA stands for Return on Assets, and it measures a company’s profitability relative to its total assets. A higher ROA indicates efficient management of the company’s assets to generate earnings.

In 2022, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) had a ROA of -0.0271, while in 2023, it improved to -0.0231. This slight increase indicates a marginally improved efficiency in asset utilization to generate earnings. Typically, a negative ROA signifies that a company is not profitable, but this improvement, albeit minor, is a positive sign. Historically, JetBlue's ROA has improved compared to its performance during the industry's downturn in 2020 (Covid-19 impact), where operational cash flow hit -$683M, reflecting a severe impact on profitability. Nonetheless, JetBlue's ROA still falls below the industry's median ROA, which suggests further improvements are necessary to align with industry standards. Therefore, the ROA assessment for JetBlue yields a score of 1 point according to the Piotroski criteria.

Operating Cashflow are higher than Netincome?

Operating Cash Flow higher than Net Income is a fundamental measure of a company's financial health, showing the firm generates more cash than earnings, emphasizing liquidity.

In 2023, JetBlue Airways reported an Operating Cash Flow of $400 million compared to a Net Income of -$310 million. The Operating Cash Flow surpasses Net Income significantly, warranting 1 point for the company on this criterion. Such a trend indicates that JetBlue's core business operations are generating cash efficiently, which offsets the net loss and provides operating liquidity essential for sustaining business activities. Historically, JetBlue has shown fluctuations in these metrics; however, this particular year highlights stronger operational cash flow management, enhancing fiscal stability amidst challenges.

Liquidity of JetBlue Airways (JBLU)

Leverage is declining?

Leverage measures a company's level of debt in relation to its equity. It is vital as it indicates the proportion of debt used to finance the company's assets. High leverage can imply higher financial risk if the company is unable to meet its debt obligations.

Comparing the leverage of 0.2861 in 2022 and 0.3578 in 2023 for JetBlue Airways, we see that leverage has increased in 2023. This is a negative trend because higher leverage increases the company's financial risk. Historically, JetBlue’s leverage has fluctuated over the last 20 years; notable previous peaks include 0.5403 in 2005 and a low of 0.1025 in 2017. Currently, with an increase from 0.2861 in 2022 to 0.3578 in 2023, it signifies an accelerating debt relative to equity position. Unfortunately, this does not earn JetBlue a point as per the Piotroski criterion.

Current Ratio is growing?

The Current Ratio is calculated by dividing a company's current assets by its current liabilities. It measures a company's ability to pay off its short-term liabilities with its short-term assets.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) has a Current Ratio of 0.5954 in 2023, which is an increase from the Current Ratio of 0.5112 in 2022. This increase signifies that JetBlue's liquidity has slightly improved over the year. In comparison, the industry median current ratio stands at 0.8112 in 2023, which indicates that despite the improvement, JetBlue is still lagging behind the industry in terms of its liquidity position. Over the past 20 years, JetBlue's Current Ratio has fluctuated, with the highest being 1.747 in 2003 and the lowest being 0.5035 in 2017. The continual low trend and sub-industry standard ratios may pose concerns for investors regarding JetBlue's ability to meet its short-term obligations. This trend earns a 1 point under the Piotroski Analysis as it reflects an improvement in liquidity.

Number of shares not diluted?

Shares outstanding denote the total number of shares held by investors, including restricted shares owned by insiders and institutional investors. A decrease could indicate share buybacks. An increase is typically negative for existing shareholders as it implies dilution.

The outstanding shares for JetBlue Airways increased from 323.6 million in 2022 to 332.9 million in 2023. This represents an increase of approximately 2.87%. Historically, outstanding shares have fluctuated, with significant increases observed during certain periods (e.g., 2008). Nevertheless, the current increase suggests potential shareholder dilution rather than value creation, hence scoring 0 points in this criterion.

Operating of JetBlue Airways (JBLU)

Cross Margin is growing?

The criterion evaluates whether JetBlue's Gross Margin increased from 2022 to 2023. An increasing Gross Margin is crucial as it indicates higher profitability and better cost management.

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) saw an increase in its Gross Margin from 0.1607 in 2022 to 0.1853 in 2023, thus earning 1 point for this criterion. This positive movement is encouraging, suggesting that JetBlue has improved its profitability and cost efficiency. However, it's notable that the 2023 Gross Margin of 0.1853 still lags behind the industry median of 0.198. While improvement is evident, JetBlue continues to face competitive pressures in cost management when benchmarked against the industry median.

Asset Turnover Ratio is growing?

Asset turnover ratio measures how effectively a company uses its assets to generate sales. A higher ratio indicates better efficiency.

In 2023, JetBlue Airways (JBLU) reported an asset turnover ratio of 0.7149, up from 0.6863 in 2022. This increase in the asset turnover ratio reflects improved operational efficiency, as the company is generating more sales per dollar of assets. Looking at the historical data, the ratio dipped significantly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but has since rebounded. The consistency in the ratio for years prior to 2020, such as 0.758 in 2018 and 0.7245 in 2019, indicates stable asset utilization. The rise in 2023 is a positive sign of recovery and operational resilience, and thus, 1 point is awarded for this criterion.