{"id":463278,"date":"2026-05-23T11:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/463278\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T11:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T11:10:11","slug":"are-ryanairs-shares-a-bargain-as-some-analysts-suggest-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/463278\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Ryanair\u2019s shares a \u2018bargain\u2019 as some analysts suggest? \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cRyanair<\/a>: It\u2019s a bargain,\u201d said Bank of America<\/a> (BofA) after the airline\u2019s latest results. Investors appeared less convinced, sending shares lower amid concerns over weaker summer fares, rising fuel costs and what Ryanair called \u201ccustomer nervousness\u201d.<\/p>\n

One person who agrees with BofA is Michael O\u2019Leary<\/a>. Ryanair\u2019s earnings call came with the CEO\u2019s usual flourishes \u2013 criticism of the Irish Government (\u201cuseless\u201d), of Ursula von der Leyen<\/a> (\u201cdullard\u201d), of Dublin Airport<\/a> bosses (\u201cmorons\u201d, \u201cdumbos\u201d, \u201cidiots\u201d) and the familiar suggestion that competitors are \u201cflaky\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, the occasional rant didn\u2019t hide O\u2019Leary\u2019s bullish mood. If unhedged oil<\/a> prices stay higher for longer, profitability could see a \u201cslight dip\u201d, but \u201cnot anything that reflects the recent 20 to 25 per cent\u201d share price decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou guys today can buy all this incredible advantage at, I don\u2019t know, \u20ac22-\u20ac23 a share,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear anybody telling me for the next two or three years, \u2018Oh, I wish we\u2019d bought it the last time there was a dip\u2019. Here\u2019s the dip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryanair shares have certainly dipped, but the financials remain strong for now, with profits up 40 per cent to \u20ac2.26 billion. And consumers\u2019 current mood aside, O\u2019Leary still expects passenger numbers, currently 208 million, to hit 300 million by 2034.<\/p>\n

The year 2034 might be a bit too far away for analysts, several of whom trimmed near-term earnings and share-price forecasts, but they broadly shared O\u2019Leary\u2019s optimism. <\/p>\n

Morningstar pointed to Ryanair\u2019s \u201cstructurally advantaged\u201d position, backed by a strong balance sheet, 80 per cent fuel hedging for 2027 and limited industry capacity. BofA pointed to valuation, noting shares trade at 12.5 times 2027 earnings. That\u2019s in line with historical norms, so the \u201cbargain\u201d label is arguably overstated, but BofA sees Ryanair\u2019s current valuation as \u201cunjustified\u201d given market share and earnings growth.<\/p>\n

Like O\u2019Leary, then, many analysts argue the fuel price spike will disproportionately hurt weaker, less well-hedged rivals, leaving Ryanair relatively advantaged. <\/p>\n

O\u2019Leary, for his part, says he remains \u201cone of life\u2019s optimists\u201d, expecting Middle East tensions to ease within one to two months, bringing lower oil prices and a rebound in bookings.<\/p>\n

For now, energy prices rather than earnings are driving the stock, as shown by its rebound after a sharp fall in oil, reinforcing the \u201cbuy the dip\u201d narrative that both O\u2019Leary and some analysts are edging towards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cRyanair: It\u2019s a bargain,\u201d said Bank of America (BofA) after the airline\u2019s latest results. Investors appeared less convinced,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2414,72,11900,37635,61,60,150432,10726,6000,1899,1713],"class_list":["post-463278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-bank-of-america","tag-business","tag-dublin-airport","tag-energy-crisis","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-israel-iran-conflict","tag-michael-oleary","tag-oil","tag-ryanair","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}