Motley Fool on JBLU

[ExpWayVis31]

The Motley Fool has been the most out spoken cheerleader on JBLU's sideline, Perhaps they are starting to admit that they didn't "choose wisely"

JetBlue is one of the few Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations that hasn't exactly panned out. The stock is off by 22% since it was singled out in the summer of 2004. Thankfully, the average pick is up a whopping 59%, far better than the market's 20% average return.

 

[727RedTails]

Boy you would be a good reporter. Or should I say typical, use a press release as a cut and paste to make it sound how you want not the writer. They also were very positive on JetBlue throughout their analysis.
The full article follows.

JetBlue Still Under the Radar
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz (TMFBreakerRick)
January 4, 2006


If every action causes an opposite and equal reaction, how does one explain Tuesday's trading on shares of JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) and Southwest (NYSE: LUV)? The announcement over the holiday weekend that rival discount carrier Independence Air would stop operating should have been welcome news to the low-fare specialists. Instead, Southwest's stock closed unchanged, while JetBlue investors suffered a 6% drop in the share price.

The JetBlue situation can be mostly attributed to analyst downgrades by Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) and Raymond James. The firming up of crude oil prices also likely played a part in keeping the sector in check.
So when does JetBlue catch a break? It's bad enough that the last time the company garnered national attention was back in September, when Flight 292 went in for a successful emergency landing in Los Angeles. However, I figured that would be spun as a positive because the news media was fascinated that folks on the plane saw the events play out through their personalized monitors, thanks to the fleet's DirecTV (NYSE: DTV) televised programming.
Yes, JetBlue may be cheap, but it isn't exactly free of frills. From the satellite television content to digital audio programming courtesy of XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR) to its wide variety of complimentary on-board snacks, JetBlue is actually a pretty spiffy operator. With apologies to Target (NYSE: TGT), JetBlue is what one may consider the cheap chic player in the airline space.
Others -- like Delta's Song -- have tried but come up short. Virgin America is going to give it a go later this year, and it does bear watching given Richard Branson's knack for success.
JetBlue is one of the few Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations that hasn't exactly panned out. The stock is off by 22% since it was singled out in the summer of 2004. Thankfully, the average pick is up a whopping 59%, far better than the market's 20% average return.
Potential investors would be well served to consider both the bull and bear arguments that we published in Dueling Fools a few months ago. Personally, I am quite bullish about the company. I am a satisfied flier and feel the company commands some worthy cost advantages over the legacy carriers. Like Southwest, its stock has been banished to the teens lately. Unless the Virgin America threat becomes overpowering, I do see JetBlue bouncing back. Sooner or later, the cheap chic carrier just has to catch a break.

 

[G4G5]

The fool is just that, they are just copying what Wall Street has been saying all week


JetBlue Airways Down 6% As Merrill, R.James Downgrade

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
January 3, 2006 12:04 p.m.

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NEW YORK (AP)--Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) fell 6.2% Tuesday - continuing a slowdown from their 52-week peak in late December - after two analysts suggested the stock may have flown high enough for now.
Merrill Lynch analyst Michael Linenberg called JetBlue "the most expensive stock" among those he watches in the sector.
Elsewhere, Raymond James analyst James D. Parker told clients in a report that the company's shares -- up 30% since October -- "have gotten ahead of its earnings progression."
"In the past, JetBlue commanded a lofty valuation given its margin leadership and significant growth prospects," said Linenberg. "But recent results suggest that the company may be experiencing growing pains."
Although JetBlue will benefit from an industrywide reduction in capacity this year, Linenberg said, the company's aircraft and personnel costs will likely rise as it matures, as will fuel costs due to the airline's limited hedge position.
Linenberg lowered his rating on the stock to neutral from buy, after shares topped a roughly $16 price target. Meanwhile, Parker also downgraded the stock to market perform from outperform, a rating equivalent to buy.
JetBlue shares dropped 95 cents to $14.43 in midday trading on the Nasdaq. The stock sunk to a 52-week low of $11.34 in late October, then climbed to a 52-week peak of $16.85 in late December.


DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
January 3, 2006 7:42 a.m.

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NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Merrill Lynch cut low-cost airline JetBlue Airways (JBLU) to neutral from buy, citing valuation.
The broker told clients that while the company is the most expensive stock in its universe on almost every valuation metric, it may be experiencing growing pains.
Merrill said it thinks the carrier will face several headwinds during the year including rising aircraft and personnel costs related to the maturation of the company, new entrant competition and the narrowing of its cost advantage vis-a-vis the trunk carriers.


Let's see, I can believe the Dow Jones or (TMFBreakerRick), Hummmmmmmm that took all of two seconds

 

[The Prussian]

Or how about this article:


[FONT=arial, helvetica]Transportation[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]JetBlue's Growing Old Fast
[/FONT][FONT=arial, helvetica]By Ted Reed
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]1/6/2006 7:04 AM EST[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]URL: http://www.thestreet.com/stocks/transportation/10260392.html[/FONT]


For a young, enthusiastic, fast-growing leader of the low-cost carriers that now dominate the airline industry, almost nothing could be worse than maturity.
Yet JetBlue Airways (JBLU:Nasdaq) , which began flying in February 2000, is growing old before our eyes.
The carrier's stock is trading about 5% below its 2005 close, thanks largely to start-of-the-year downgrades by analysts at Merrill Lynch and Raymond James. Both said the stock price has gotten ahead of where it should be.
A key reason, said Merrill Lynch, which has a banking relationship with JetBlue, is that "the company may be experiencing growing pains (that include) rising costs related to the maturation of the company."
The problems with maturation in the airline industry are multiple. The cost of labor goes up as workers become more senior. Route expansion often progresses from the most desirable routes to less desirable ones, and maintenance costs can increase precipitously as aircraft require their first heavy maintenance checks after operating for several years.
Vivian Lee, an aviation analyst for Alliance Capital, which doesn't hold JetBlue stock, says that all new airlines start out with a "maintenance vacation" from the hefty checks that can cost a few million dollars per aircraft. A vacation's impact can be prolonged by rapid growth, because high maintenance costs would initially affect a relatively small percentage of an evolving airline's fleet. But eventually, all vacations must come to an end.
JetBlue is burdened with all the phenomena of aging at the same time as fuel costs have risen and competition has stiffened. In the third quarter, as operating expenses rose 46.1% from the same quarter a year earlier, operating income declined to $13.8 million, down 38.4%. Net income of $2.7 million came about largely from a tax-accounting benefit of $6.4 million, a result of reduced tax expectations since the company no longer believes it will make a profit this year.
"I would argue that JetBlue actually lost money in the third quarter," said Lee. CEO David Neeleman called the quarter difficult, as a result of high fuel costs, bad weather and tough competition. The airline said it would report a loss for the fourth quarter and the year.
Rising maintenance costs are likely to increase the burden on the company, which operates a fleet of 85 Airbus A320 jets. Heavy maintenance requirements begin after several years of operation, with the exact interlude determined by the usage of the airplane.
In fact, in the third quarter JetBlue's maintenance costs rose to $19.8 million, up 72% from the same period a year earlier. That followed a full-year 2004 increase of 94% to $44.9 million. The airline took delivery of 10 jets in 2000, 11 in 2001, and 16 for each of the past four years. In 2005, it also received its first seven Embraer 190s, a second aircraft type that it plans to deploy in markets too small for A320 service.
JetBlue has warned repeatedly that aircraft maintenance outlays will rise. "Our maintenance costs will increase significantly, both on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our operating expenses, as our fleet ages and (our) warranties expire," the company said in its 2004 annual report. But investors may not have been listening.
JetBlue should have been a Wall Street darling for many years after it went public, says analyst Lee. Instead, she said, "it is looking more like a legacy carrier and less like Southwest Airlines far faster than most would have imagined at its IPO only three and a half years ago."