Air Lease (AL) Q1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Completed a major merger with Air Lease Corporation in April 2026, resulting in a new holding company jointly owned by Sumitomo, SMBC Aviation Capital, Apollo, and Brookfield, with SMBC AC as exclusive servicer for most of the fleet and acquisition of the outstanding orderbook.

• Inaugural earnings call post-acquisition highlighted smooth integration, positive customer feedback, and a management team with deep industry experience.

• Maintains a fleet of 496 owned aircraft, 83% of which are young, new technology models, with a weighted average age of 5.0 years.

• Focus on leveraging scale, optimizing the portfolio, and deleveraging to achieve a 3x debt-to-equity target.

• Shareholder structure: Sumitomo (37.51%), SMBC (24.99%), Apollo (18.75%), Brookfield (18.75%).

Financial highlights

• Q1 2026 total revenues were $739.2 million, nearly flat year-over-year, with rental revenue up 4% to $674 million.

• Net income attributable to common stockholders was $114.8 million, down from $364.8 million in Q1 2025 due to a prior-year $332 million Russian fleet insurance recovery.

• Adjusted net income before income taxes was $165.4 million, compared to $169.5 million in Q1 2025.

• Aircraft sales proceeds were $275 million from six aircraft, with a sales pipeline of $5.6 billion and $940 million held for sale.

• Cash flows from operating activities increased 29.6% to $503.3 million.

Outlook and guidance

• Immediate focus on portfolio optimization and deleveraging, targeting a long-term debt-to-equity ratio of 3.0x.

• No further aircraft purchase commitments after SMBC AC acquired the orderbook; future acquisitions to be opportunistic.

• Robust aircraft sales pipeline of $5.6 billion, with $4.6 billion under letters of intent and $940 million held for sale.

• Strong liquidity position of $4.1 billion as of April 30, 2026, and continued robust demand for young, new technology aircraft.

• Lease rates expected to remain strong due to tight supply and elevated interest rates.