Analysis: Pinnacle Airlines increased its fleet of Bombardier CRJ 200s by 54 percent in the last 12 months. As of Dec. 31, it had 117 RJs flying exclusively for Northwest Airlines. It is slated to get 139 RJs by the end of the third quarter. The carrier's fourth quarter 2004 earnings was impacted by a $1.4 million penalty payment Pinnacle paid to Northwest for failing to meet six-month performance benchmarks. A snow and ice storm over the Christmas holidays reduced Pinnacle's operations by 60 percent. These delays contributed to the lower performance scores as well as a previously announced computer breakdown. Pinnacle ended the year with a $34.9 million cash balance. Earlier this month, Pinnacle sold $121 million in notes enabling it to repay a $106.5 million in debts to Northwest. The early payment of the Northwest notes will enable Pinnacle to grow its cash balance at a faster pace. Caylon Securities analyst Ray Neidl has upgraded his stock recommendation to "buy" indicating he sees a 40 percent growth potential for its stock this year.