Why Airline Stocks Are Down Today Even After 2 Big Carriers Turned Profitable
United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL) delivered its second-quarter results after the bell Wednesday, and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) came through with its numbers before the bell Thursday. Both had profitable quarters for the first time since the pandemic began, but that wasn't enough to get their stocks flying higher. On Thursday, shares of American and United traded down by more than 8% in response to the companies' dour outlook for the rest of the year. Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), which reported last week, was down nearly 5% as well.
Airline investors have been riding through turbulence since the beginning of the pandemic, and although demand has returned this summer, the combination of sky-high costs and a shortage of pilots has limited the upside for airlines. Despite getting back into the black, neither United nor American was able to match analysts' expectations, and both warned that higher costs were eating into their revenue gains.
Source Fool.com
