Alaska Air reports profit in fourth quarter

SEATTLE (AP) — Alaska Air Group Inc. (ALK) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $18 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

On a per-share basis, the Seattle-based company said it had profit of 14 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 24 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 17 cents per share.

The airline posted revenue of $1.9 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $1.84 billion.

For the year, the company reported net income of $478 million, or $3.77 per share, swinging to a profit in the period. Revenue was reported as $6.18 billion.

Alaska Air shares have risen slightly since the beginning of the year. The stock has increased almost 1% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ALK at https://www.zacks.com/ap/ALK