Broker snap: Jefferies expects consensus upgrades at easyJet

Jefferies has kept its 'hold' rating for easyJet but said it expects analysts to raise profit forecasts for the budget airline this year after a decent third quarter."Today's 3Q interim management statement confirms another solid summer in progress which we expect to drive consensus full-year profit upgrades," Jefferies said. easyJet now expects pre-tax profit to range from £450-480m, some 7.0% ahead of the mid-point of current consensus forecast.Third-quarter revenue rose 10.5% to £1.14bn, with revenue-per-seat (RPS) growth of 6.1% at constant currency exchange coming in well ahead of the broker's 3.7% estimate and 2.6% passenger growth beating the 2.5% forecast."This stronger-than-expected performance was driven by allocating capacity to higher returning routes, competitor retrenchment and allocated seating (nearly 1.0% of RPS growth)," Jefferies said.With RPS growth guidance for the second half being raised from 4.0% to 6.0%, this implies market concerns over late bookings may be overplayed, the broker said.While Jefferies believes that easyJet's valuation isn't overly demanding, the share price is now up with events and it sees more opportunity in sector peer Ryanair, "our preferred pick of the low cost carriers".The stock was up 8.61% at 1,451p by 10:34 on Wednesday.