Airline stocks and sector-related ETF will have a big day ahead of them as three major airline companies are slated to report quarterly earnings results Thursday.
Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK) and American Airlines Group (NYSE: AAL) will reveal quarterly results Thursday. Investors will be closely watching for signs that U.S. carriers are recovering after the quick rebound in fuel prices over late 2018, which may have pressured airliners’ quarterly profits, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Airline stocks have underperformed the S&P 500 for most of last year, following the broader index of transportation stocks, including truckers, railroads, couriers and shipping services lower.
The rising fuel costs crimped airline profits last summer. Furthermore, when prices slipped toward the end of the year, investors continued to exit the sector, pointing to concerns over adding too many new flights to help offset costs. There are even some whom are worried about the extended government shutdown and its effects on business travel, largely due to government employees and contractors not traveling while Congress and the White House are stuck at an impasse.