Significant Wizz Air share drop after profit plummet revealed: investors frustrated, airline in trouble?

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.

Wizz Air cashless payment — Photo: depositphotos.com

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.

József Váradi Wizz Air CEO Hungary All You Can Fly — Wizz Air CEO József Váradi. Photo: FB/Budflyer

Ryanair profit skyrockets

Meanwhile, major competitor Ryanair’s annual profit reached EUR 1.6 billion in the previous financial year, expecting a further 20% this year.

G7 suggested that Wizz Air signed disadvantageous contracts ten years ago, and investors did not calculate such high compulsory aircraft maintenance costs after the end of the leasing periods. Meanwhile, they added that Wizz Air increased prices for Wizz Discount club members and other products.

The airline announced multiple large-scale planes in the last few years. They moved to buy EasyJet and promised to launch long-haul flights in 2023, served by their new XLR planes. However, they have acquired the first one of them only recently.

Wizz Air enters a new era in intercontinental low-cost travel to exotic destinations by welcoming 1st Airbus A321XLR

Ambitious plans, but nothing realised

In 2023, they planned to launch flights to Bangladesh. Last year, they discussed flights to India and Pakistan. But nothing was realised from those ambitious targets.

Wizz Air gave no official prediction for the 2026 business year, which also undermines investors’ trust. The airline is Europe’s worst-performing company concerning its stock market share price.

Despite financial struggles, they would like to continue fleet expansions. In three years, they would operate 305 planes, a much lower number than the 380 they talked about.