The Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) share price is slipping today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) airline stock closed yesterday trading for $11.30. In late morning trade on Tuesday, shares are changing hands for $11.13 apiece, down 1.5%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.3% at this same time.
So, why is the Flying Kangaroo trailing the benchmark today?
What's holding back the Qantas share price on Tuesday?
Fortunately, there are no new global conflicts to report that could impede on air travel. Nor are analysts predicting a near term surge in the oil price, which would translate to materially higher jet fuel costs.
Rather, the Qantas share price is underperforming because the stock trades ex-dividend today.
That means investors buying shares today will no longer receive the final Qantas dividend. That payout will go to investors who held the stock at market close on Monday. And, as we're seeing with Qantas today, when a stock trades ex-dividend it's common for its share price to come under some pressure on the day.
Qantas reported its FY 2025 results on 28 August, achieving an 8.6% year-on-year increase in revenue and other income, to $23.82 billion.
On the bottom line, the company's underlying profit before tax of $2.39 billion was up 15% from FY 2024.
With profits up, management declared a fully franked final ordinary dividend of 16.5 cents per share and a special fully franked dividend of 9.9 cents per share. That works out to a fully franked final Qantas dividend payment of 26.4 cents per share.
So, if we add that back into the current Qantas share price of $11.13, then the realised (accumulated) price for investors who held the stock at yesterday's close is $11.394 per share. Which is up 0.8% from Monday's close. And actually ahead of the intraday gains posted by the ASX 200.
If you owned shares at yesterday's closing bell, by the way, you can expect to see that passive income hit your bank account on 15 October. That's the only option you'll have had, as Qantas' dividend reinvestment plan (DRP) was not in operation for this payout.
What's the latest from the ASX 200 airline?
On Friday, in a media release deemed non-price sensitive to the Qantas share price, management announced that commercial bookings were now available on its first Airbus A321XLR aircraft.
The company said this marked "a major milestone" in its fleet renewal program.
Qantas Domestic CEO Markus Svensson said, "The inaugural commercial flight will take off from Sydney for Perth, giving customers the very first taste of the comfort, space and connectivity these aircraft bring."
Svensson added:
The extended flight range will also enable us to operate these aircraft on both domestic and short haul international routes, including destinations across South East Asia and the Pacific Islands that are not currently viable with our current narrowbody fleet.
