Blade Air Mobility Delivers Q3 Earnings Beat And Strong Margins As Restructuring Takes Flight

Blade Air Mobility Inc BLDE reported third-quarter revenue growth of 4.8% year-over-year to $74.9 million, beating the consensus of $74.4 million.

The revenue growth was driven primarily by growth in Medical and Short Distance, partially offset by Jet and Other revenue. Short Distance revenue rose 6.5% to $32.4 million, led by Northeast Leisure, Other Short Distance and New York Airport.

Flight profit rose 27.3% to $19.8 million, with the margin improving by 469 basis points to 26.5% in the quarter. This was driven by a strong summer season in the Northeast, better profitability at New York Airport, and the positive impact of restructuring actions in Europe and Canada within the Passenger segment.

Loss per share of $0.03 beat the loss estimate of $0.04. Adjusted EBITDA improved to $4.2 million vs. $0.8 million a year ago. The passenger segment’s adjusted EBITDA stood at $5.6 million vs. $2.8 million a year ago. On the other hand, the Medical segment’s adjusted EBITDA rose to $3.9 million from $3.3 million a year ago.

Operating cash flow stood at $6.4 million and free cash flow, before aircraft acquisitions, came in at $3.7 million in the quarter. The company held cash and short-term investments of $136.3 million as of the end of the third quarter of FY24.

Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Beyond the strength in underlying customer demand, several factors contributed to the faster path to profitability including actions we’ve taken to exit unprofitable business lines rapidly, early benefits from the recent restructuring of our European operations and implementation of segment-wide cost savings.”

Outlook: Blade Air Mobility reiterated its 2024 revenue outlook of $240 million – $250 million vs. $247.572 million consensus and positive adjusted EBITDA. For 2025, the company expects double-digit Medical revenue growth and double-digit millions of adjusted EBITDA.

Will Heyburn, Chief Financial Officer, said, “We are also excited to announce a strategic alliance with OrganOx to broaden access to their metra perfusion device. We know from speaking with our customers that demand for metra currently exceeds the supply of available machines. This partnership will enable higher utilization of available metra devices through rapid distribution, utilizing Blade’s air and ground logistics, to transplant centers who need them on a case-by-case basis.”

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF ARKX and ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF ARKQ.

Price Action: BLDE shares are down 10.6% at $3.425 at the last check Tuesday.

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