Ryanair earnings: second quarter 2026

In the July–September quarter, Ryanair flew 5% more passengers and sales rose 4% to €5.70bn, but costs rose 10%, mostly fuel, so profit after tax fell 6% to €1.61bn. The airline gives no profit forecast for the year. It says Christmas-quarter fares look slightly higher than last year, and warns that its fuel bill could rise by about €2bn the year after. ¹

Against what analysts expected

Analysts had expected earnings of $3.49 per US-listed share, according to Nasdaq's earnings calendar. That figure is in dollars per US share, so it cannot be set directly against Ryanair's own euro figure of €1.55 per share. ¹²

The strong points

• Extras such as bags and seats grew faster than passenger numbers, rising 6% to €1.61bn and helping make up for lower fares. ¹
• Ryanair paid off its last bond in May and is now nearly debt-free, holding about €2.0bn more cash than it owes. ¹

The weak points

• Operating costs rose 10%, more than twice as fast as sales, mainly because the fuel it had not bought in advance cost far more. ¹
• Despite higher sales, profit after tax fell 6% to €1.61bn. ¹
• Less of the profit turned into cash over the half-year: about 56 cents of cash per euro of profit, against about 70 cents a year earlier. ¹

What the company expects

• Ryanair says demand for October to December is strong and fares are running slightly ahead of last year, though people are booking later, so it can see less far ahead. ¹
• For the year to March 2028, Ryanair expects its fuel bill to rise by about €2bn at today's prices, and says higher fares will not fully cover it. ¹

Our verdict on the quarter

A mixed report. More passengers and a very strong balance sheet, but profit fell as fuel costs outran sales. There is no profit forecast to judge against, the company calls its yearly passenger target of 214m 'lower', and it warns of a much bigger fuel bill next year.

The results as published

• The results release itself
• The filing it came with (SEC)

Notes

1. Ryanair's results release, 2 November 2026: sec.gov. ↩
2. Nasdaq's earnings calendar, 2 November 2026. ↩