Allegiant stock price up 9.7 percent

An Allegiant Air flight departs from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2018. (Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @vegasphotograph

Allegiant Air passenger jets on the tarmac McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Sunday, Jan.28, 2018. Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Shares of Allegiant Air’s parent company soared Thursday after the budget carrier easily topped analysts’ first-quarter earnings forecasts.

Analysts on average expected the deep-discount carrier to book earnings of $3.01 per share for the three months ending March 31, according to Yahoo Finance. But the Las Vegas-based airline on Wednesday reported earnings of $3.42 per share.

Allegiant Travel Co. stock closed Thursday trading on the Nasdaq at $157.25, up 9.7 percent, or $13.95. By comparison, the S&P 500, a closely watched stock market index, ended Thursday trading up 1.04 percent.

Allegiant is known for flying from small, underserved cities to warm-weather vacation spots. It booked $55.2 million in profit for the first quarter, up 31 percent from the same period last year.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.