Quick movement of people and material banks on the airline industry. While large-size shipments often find container based shipping through sea as the preferred route of transportation, the air or rail route is preferred by people for quick service. Companies in the airline sector operate locally and globally, and through partnerships with other airline or transportation companies to often the last mile connectivity to the passengers. A lot of such airline companies have their stocks listed on the national stock exchanges of America, and investors can purchase those in anticipation of the positive and healthy returns. One must note that airline stocks are prone to economic cycles and prevailing situation. If overall economy is doing good, both business and leisure travellers will be willing to spend on business and holidays which will lead to high returns for the airline companies. However, if the economic situation is gloomy, individuals as well as businesses avoid travel-related expenses which lead to dismal performance of the airline stocks. Among the handful of Airlines stocks, which ones generated the top returns this year? Which of those figured among the winners in the long list of Airlines stocks? This article provides a list of Airlines stocks which have generated top returns in the year 2020 so far till date of writing. The list is prepared based on the percentage returns generated by the individual Airlines stocks between the end of the previous year and Dec 31, 2020, and the top 10 return generating Airlines stocks are listed below.
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The following list presents stocks of the companies which belong to the broader Airlines sector or the stock market index, their corresponding prices as of given date, and the percentage gains realized: 1) Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY)
There's more... See price performance, YTD-gains, market-cap and other details of all the 20 Airlines stocks with sorting features in a tabular format. Alternatively, one can also explore the List of Top Airlines ETFs.
Here's a look at the basic details and how the above mentioned stocks fared during the period:
Ryanair
Ryanair Holdings plc (Ryanair Holdings), incorporated on June 5, 1996, is a holding company for Ryanair Limited (Ryanair). Ryanair operates an ultra-low fare, scheduled-passenger airline serving short-haul, point-to-point routes between ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Ryanair. The Ireland-headquartered company Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY) is ranked number one among the best performing stocks of Airlines of 2020. The Transportation sector business falls under the Air Freight Delivery Services industrial sub-sector. Since the start of the year 2020, the stock price of Ryanair has changed by 25.53 percent, which is calculated based on the previous year's closing price of $87.61 per share and year-to-date closing price of $109.98 per share as of writing. The market value of the company as indicated by its market-cap changed from $17.95 billion to $22.73 billion during the same period. Along with Airlines, the company is also in the business of Transportation, Air Freight Delivery Services, Air Freight, Industrials, among other usual products and services.
Controladora Vuela
Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion SAB de CV (Volaris Aviation Holding Company) is a Mexico-based company principally engaged in the airline passenger transportation industry. The Company is a law-cost carrier ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Controladora Vuela. During the given months of the year 2020, Controladora Vuela Compania de Aviacion, S.A.B. de C.V. (VLRS) was successful in generating YTD returns of 19.19 percentage which helped it gain the number two spot in the list of the top performing stocks which generated maximum returns during year 2020 till date. As of December of the previous year, the stock of the Mexico-based Controladora Vuela closed at a price of $10.42 per share, while it traded at a price of $12.42 per share as of Dec 31, 2020. The company's market cap changed from $1.04 billion to $1.23 billion during the same period YTD. The company is classified under the Transportation industry sector and further specialized as a Air Freight Delivery Services sector business.
Allegiant Travel
Allegiant Travel Company, a leisure travel company, focuses on the provision of travel services and products to residents of under-served cities in the United States. The company offers scheduled air ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Allegiant Travel. Rank number three in the coveted list is held by Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT) for being among the top performing stocks of 2020. Headquartered in Nevada, NV, the Transportation sector company is categorized under the industrial sub-sector of Air Freight Delivery Services. Since the start of the year 2020, stock of Allegiant Travel has so far gained 8.73 percentage, based on the previous year's closing price of $174.04 per share and year-to-date price of $189.24 per share. During the same period, the market capitalization of the company changed from $2.84 billion to $3.1 billion. The stock of Allegiant Travel continues to be a major constituent of many leading stock indexes which include Wilshire 5000 index, Russell 2000 index, and several other broader level multi-cap market indicators.
China Southern Airlines
China Southern Airlines Company Limited, incorporated on March 25, 1995, is engaged in airline operations. The Company also operates certain airline related businesses, including provision of aircraft maintenance and air ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of China Southern Airlines. The China-based China Southern Airlines Company Limited (ZNH) belongs to the Transportation sector and is categorized as a Air Freight Delivery Services company. The stock of China Southern Airlines ended the previous year at a price of $33.6 per share. As of Dec 31, 2020, the stock price has reached $29.65 apiece, which indicates a change of -11.76 percent making the company rank among the top performing stocks of the Airlines for the year 2020 till date. At the end of the last year, company's market capitalization stood at $11.16 billion. It has now changed to $12.33 billion as of writing.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest), incorporated on March 9, 1967, operates Southwest Airlines, a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States and near-international markets. Southwest provides point-to-point ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Southwest Airlines. At number five in the list of top stocks stands Southwest Airlines (LUV), which saw a change in its stock price from the level of $53.98 apiece during previous year December end to the price of $46.61 per share as of Dec 31, 2020. It translates to a change of -13.65 percentage. The Dallas, Texas-headquartered Transportation sector company also saw its market value change from $28.01 billion to $27.51 billion. The Air Freight Delivery Services specialist also managed to outperform some of the major stock market indexes of which it is a part of. They include the Wilshire 5000 index, S&P 500 index, and a handful of other multi-capitalization indexes.
China Eastern Airlines
China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited, together with its subsidiaries, operates in the civil aviation industry in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company offers passenger, ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of China Eastern Airlines. China Eastern Airlines Corporation Ltd. (CEA) has moved by -21.41 percentage over the given period of 2020-YTD, helping it gain a place at number six among the top performing stocks. The Transportation sector company managed to achieve the feat as its stock price changed from $27.37 apiece to the price of $21.51 per share between the end of December of the previous year and Dec 31, 2020. The smart run of the China-based Air Freight Delivery Services sector company lead to a handsome gain in its marketcap which changed from $12.06 billion to $9.87 billion over the same duration.
JetBlue Airways
JetBlue Airways Corporation, incorporated on August 24, 1998, is a passenger carrier company. The Company provides air transportation services across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. The Companys ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of JetBlue Airways. The number seven spot in the list of top performing stocks of the Airlines sector is taken by JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU). The company's stock price changed from $18.72 per share at the end of December of the previous year to the price of $14.54 per share as of writing. Overall, the stock managed to realized price change of -22.33 percent during the given time period. The corresponding change in the market capitalization value of the New York, NY-based Transportation sector company was from $5.28 billion to $4.57 billion. Being ranked in the top 10 best performing stocks of the Airlines sector, the company also succeeded in outperforming the returns generated by some of the popular stock market indexes. They include the Wilshire 5000 index, and a handful of other multi-capitalization indexes.
Alaska Air
Alaska Air Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides passenger and cargo air transportation services. The company operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. It has a netwo ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Alaska Air. Alaska Air (ALK) generated percentage returns of -23.25 percent during the 2020 year-to-date. Its returns are based on the share price which moved from $67.75 per share from the previous year-end to the price of $52 per share as of Dec 31, 2020. The company's value, as indicated by the market-cap figure, changed from $8.35 billion to $6.43 billion during the same period. The company is categorized as a Transportation speciality business with further classification in the Air Freight Delivery Services sub-category. Based in Seattle, Washington, the YTD performance of the Airlines sector also fared better than that of the returns generated by some of the closley tracked stock market indexes. The company is a part of Wilshire 5000 index, S&P 500 index, and a few other wider multi-cap stock market indexes.
Mesa Air Group
Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc., which provides regional air carrier services under capacity purchase agreements with the American Airlines and the United Airlines. ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Mesa Air Group. Based on the market-cap change from $289.32 million to $237.71 million during the given months of the year 2020 and the share price change from $8.94 per share to a price of $6.69 per share as of Dec 31, 2020, Mesa Air Group, Inc. (MESA) was successful in generating YTD returns of -25.17 percentage. Standing at the number nine rank in the top performing list of Airlines stocks, the Phoenix, AZ-based Mesa Air Group is categorized as the Industrials sub-sector business which falls under the larger Industrials sector. It is also a part of few famous stock indexes that are used to track the overall performance of the stock market. They include Wilshire 5000 index, Russell 2000 index, and a few more broader-level indexes that are actively tracked in the market.
Copa
Copa Holdings, S.A., incorporated on May 6, 1998, is a provider of airline passenger and cargo service through its principal operating subsidiaries, Compania Panamena de Aviacion, S. A. (Copa Airlines) ... see Detailed Company Profile, full Dividend History, and List of ETFs holding the stock of Copa. The PANAMA CITY, Panama-based Transportation sector company Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA) holds the number ten spot among the best performing stocks of the Airlines sector. Classified as the Air Freight Delivery Services business, the stock price of Copa ended the previous year at a price of $108.08 per share while it reached the level of $77.23 apiece as of Dec 31, 2020 translating to a percentage change in stock price of -28.54%. As of writing, the company's market-cap value stands at $3.27 billion.This page is updated every week/month. Bookmark this site to track the best performing stocks regularly.