SkyWest stock - 52 week high!

[Ben Dover]

Nice work folks! SkyWest stock (SKYW) busted through the 52 week high in intra-day trading.

For those who lack a fundamental understanding of the market. Stock price is a function of company earnings and expected future earnings.

On a related note, voting is now open on a new pay package for SkyWest pilots. The new pay proposal includes a 1.2% raise, the first raise in over four years, and has no expiration date.

 

[viper548]

We are gonna get a helluva deal on the stock purchase JAN 1 if this keeps up. When I say we, I mean those that aren't out on a LOA and will get to participate in the purchase.

 

[Ben Dover]

[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Why SkyWest Is Soaring When Other Airlines Are Falling Victim To Turbulence[/font][url="http://www.wallst.net/images/SpeakerButton.gif"]http://www.wallst.net/images/SpeakerButton.gif[/url][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
By Dane Grace
Associate Editor
SkyWest, Inc. (Nasdaq: SKYW Quotes, News, Charts) has continued to soar in a time where many other airlines including the Company’s two main business partners, United and Delta, have fallen victim to turbulence.

“Our agreements operate from the standpoint that we’re hedged against downward economic cycles,” SkyWest’s Vice President of Finance Michael Kraupp said. “So, as a result of that you’re seeing Skywest make money and have a lengthy history of profitable quarters.”

Daunting financial hurdles, however, lay ahead for Skywest’s partners. United Airlines has amassed more than $7 billion in losses through a 33-month bankruptcy process, and Delta is expected to make cost cuts amounting to $3 billion, part of which will include laying-off 24,000 employees.

“We’re hopeful that in the long run, [Delta’s financial woes] would not have a negative impact,” Kraupp said. “In fact, we’d hopefully look for some increased opportunity to fly additional regional jets on their behalf.”

SkyWest’s revamped agreements with Delta meet fair market standards, which should stave off government intervention. By maintaining a “fee on departure” operating model, Delta compensates SkyWest for its flight costs.

This has allowed SkyWest to capitalize on several growth opportunities. Since June 2004, Skywest added 39 airplanes to its fleet, and acquired Atlantic Southeast Airlines from Delta on Sept.

By taking on ASA’s operation capacity, Kraupp said SkyWest would add another 900 daily flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, GA to the 1500 daily flights it already conducts. The two companies will be run independently, with fully integrated finances.

According to Kraupp, the structuring of the acquisition paves the way for continued profitability, and dramatic increases in the Company’s earnings-per-share.

“We are an airline and we tend to get painted with that brush,” Kraupp said. “In respect to all airlines, and I think investors should take a real close look at not only our business model, our history and the types of contracts we have, because again, we have a long standing history of profitability and we believe, based on our contracts, if they work correctly, we’re going to have that into the future as well.”



[/font]

 

[viper548]

I read somewhere that the target price for the stock was around $33