Morgan Stanley Names Spirit Airlines 'Top Airline Growth Pick'

In a note released Wednesday morning, Morgan Stanley analyst, John Godyn maintained an Overweight rating on Spirit Airlines Incorporated SAVE and raised the price target from $90 to $100. Godyn began his note by pointing out the Spirit beat both his and consensus estimates for third quarter EPS despite a recent downward revision to its third quarter margin guidance. However, he says the "most" important item was management's guide to 20 percent operating margins in the first quarter of 2015. Godyn says this implies "considerable upside" to his already above consensus estimates. Looking forward, Godyn has revised his 2015 and 2016 EPS estimates "significantly higher" to $4.75 and $5.70, respectively. Amid the Morgan Stanley note, Spirit Airlines' stock has started out Wednesday's market session up slightly to ~$71.44.