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The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Alaska Air and Allegiant Travel

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 27, 2023 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) , Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) , Alaska Air Group (ALK - Free Report) and Allegiant Travel Co. (ALGT - Free Report) .

Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

Airline Stock Roundup: UAL, ALGT & More

In the past week, United Airlines management announced its decision to launch non-stop flights to Mexico's soon-to-open Tulum International Airport. The move to expand its network is in response to buoyant air travel demand.

Delta Air Lines was also in the news as it launched a codeshare partnership with Latvian national carrier, airBaltic. The customer-friendly move is in response to the increasing transatlantic air travel demand. Alaska Air Group inked an environment-friendly deal with climate-tech company CHOOSE. Allegiant Travel Co. carried 12.8% more passengers in October 2023 than a year ago across its entire system.

Read the last Airline Roundup here.

Recap of the Past Week’s Most Important Stories

1. United Airlines will operate 22 weekly direct flights connecting Tulum and U.S. destinations, Newark Liberty, Houston and Chicago, from Mar 31, 2024. Management has decided to add more daily, seasonal service to the Mexican destination from Los Angeles from May 23, 2024. The decision to add more flights is in line with UAL’s objective to expand its network by 25% in the broader Latin America and Caribbean region this winter.

Currently, United Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

2. Following the deal with CHOOSE, ALK’s passengers can purchase sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) credits or support nature-based climate projects. They can choose between SAF credits or certified nature-based projects in places where the airline flies. This move is in-line with the airline's efforts to go green by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, without relying on traditional carbon offsets.

3. The agreement with airBaltic allows Delta to add its code on the latter’s flights, thereby boosting connectivity between North America and Latvia. More specifically, Delta can now place its code on 20 routes operated by airBaltic to three of the Latvian carrier’s leading cities — Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius. The partnership boosts the travel experience of passengers as they now have access to convenient connections and more flexible booking and ticketing options between North America and Latvia.

4. In October, Allegiant’s scheduled traffic (measured in revenue passenger miles) increased 10.7% from October 2022. Capacity (measured in available seat miles) for scheduled service grew 13.1% from the October 2022 reading. Load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) in October 2023 came in at 83.7%. Fuel price per gallon in October is estimated to have been $3.44. For 2023, the average fuel cost per gallon — system — is expected to be $3.12, higher than the prior view of $2.90.

Price Performance

Most airline stocks traded in the green over the past week. Consequently, the NYSE ARCA Airline Index has risen 2% to $54.18 in the past week. Over the course of the past six months, the sector tracker has decreased 12.5%.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Inherent in any investment is the potential for loss. This material is being provided for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes investment, legal, accounting or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold a security. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. It should not be assumed that any investments in securities, companies, sectors or markets identified and described were or will be profitable. All information is current as of the date of herein and is subject to change without notice. Any views or opinions expressed may not reflect those of the firm as a whole. Zacks Investment Research does not engage in investment banking, market making or asset management activities of any securities. These returns are from hypothetical portfolios consisting of stocks with Zacks Rank = 1 that were rebalanced monthly with zero transaction costs. These are not the returns of actual portfolios of stocks. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index. Visit https://www.zacks.com/performance for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.

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