Significant Wizz Air share drop after profit plummet revealed: investors frustrated, airline in trouble?
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Shareholders of Hungarian budget airline Wizz Air were probably baffled to see how the share price plummeted this week. That came after the airline revealed that its profit had shrunken despite its income growth. CEO József Váradi explained the trend with the Pratt & Whitney engines’ problems, but investors remained frustrated.
Poor Wizz Air figures from 2025 Q1
According to G7, a Hungarian economy-focused news outlet, the Hungarian low-cost airline, Wizz Air, reported devastating figures concerning its share price this week. Share costs have never plummeted as much as the day before yesterday following Wizz Air’s report about the airline’s profit drop. The share price dropped by more than 28% in just one day. The share began the day on the London stock market at GBP 16.69 and finished at only GBP 12.
The airline concluded Q1 in 2025 with EUR 5.268 billion in income, which met the expectations of experts. However, the annual profit was only EUR 167.5 million, a 41% drop, while the operating profit was EUR 213.9 million, a 62% decrease. Those figures remained below both expectations and last year’s results.
According to G7, Wizz Air was unable to increase its profit despite favourable macroeconomic conditions, low oil prices, and a positive EUR-USD currency exchange rate. That is because of the airline’s quick expansion, Gábor Bukta, the analyst branch head of Concorde, told the Hungarian media outlet.
Management fed up with “misleading communication”
Bukta added that investors were fed up that the management had misled them quarter after quarter and did not provide a clear insight into the business operations. Investors also blamed the company’s misleading and disappointing communication. Based on a Bloomberg report, investors and analysts were both frustrated to learn the new figures. Investors were especially keen to know how non-fuel costs could increase by 19% in the case of a budget airline.
The CEO, József Váradi, acknowledged ongoing challenges related to engine repair issues affecting the fleet, which is expected to impact the company for another two to three years. By the end of March, 42 out of the 231 planes of Wizz Air remained on the ground due to engine issues. On 9 May, that figure was 37, but it will still be 34 at the end of September. The CEO told Bloomberg that 2027 will be the year of change.
