NATIONAL BANK comments on ACIt was an open secret that the Canadian carrier's Q1 results would be good after executives announced they were raising their guidance for 2023. And they were good. Revenues reached $4.887 million, well above National Bank Financial analyst Cameron Doerksen's forecast of $4.443 million and analysts' consensus of $4.354 million. This is a 90% increase on revenues from the same period last year, and a 10% higher result than in the first quarter of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic grounded air carriers . Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization for the 1st quarter were $411 million, greatly exceeding the National analyst's forecast of $220 million and that of the analysts' consensus of $269 million. Air Canada ends the quarter with cash of $10.5 billion, up $700 million from the end of the previous quarter. Bookings remain strong, with advance ticket sales standing at $5.3 billion at the end of the quarter compared to $4.1 billion at the end of the previous quarter, the analyst noted. This gives the firm good visibility on demand by the end of the year, he said. The firm also generated free cash flow of $987 million during the quarter. Cameron Doerksen maintains his Outperformance recommendation, as well as his target price of $32.00. He expects demand for air travel to remain strong and profitability and cash flow to continue to improve over the next few decades.