Spirit Airlines price target lowered to $13 from $16.50 at Citi

Citi analyst Stephen Trent lowered the firm’s price target on Spirit Airlines to $13 from $16.50 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst says Spirit “seems to be at a strategic crossroads.” On one level, a combined Spirit/JetBlue could compete more effectively against some of the other U.S. airlines, the analyst tells investors in a research note. However, Spirit is now guiding to negative 2023 EBIT margins and earnings, while a $1.25B equity market cap now compares with Q3 net debt of $5.6B, says the firm. Citi believes the company “could be in a difficult spot, if the merger falls through.”