Delta Air Lines was reinstated as a "top pick" airlines stock in 2024 on Monday by Morgan Stanley. Alaska Airlines remained the firm's number two pick, despite the in-flight incident Friday that forced an Alaska Air 737 Max 9 jet to make an unscheduled emergency landing. DAL stock advanced while ALK shares pared losses after an early 6% dive.
Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker on Monday upgraded American Airlines stock to "overweight" from "equal weight" and maintained a 20 price target on AAL shares. Shanker also on Monday named DAL stock as the firm's top pick in 2024.
"We expect the market to gravitate towards DAL's compounding and unique growth story as the airlines gain more traction in 2024," Shanker wrote Monday.
DAL Stock: Analysts Weigh In On Airline Stocks
The Morgan Stanley analyst has Alaska Airlines stock as its number two pick in the airlines space. Shanker sees upside to ALK management in 2024 and said that the air carrier will look to "achieve industry-leading margins and drive long-term growth with bright spots from strong price in the premium product mix and strength of the loyalty program."
ALK shares tumbled early Monday during market action before closing down 0.2%. This follows the Alaska Airlines' flight 1282 situation. It was scheduled Friday afternoon from Portland to Ontario, Calif. but was forced to make an unscheduled emergency landing shortly after takeoff due to a mid-cabin fuselage component separating from the airliner.
DAL stock angled up 2.7% to 41.63 Monday. DAL traded below a 42.70 buy point in a cup-with-handle base.
AAL stock surged 7.2% to 14.58.
Meanwhile, Bernstein analyst David Vernon downgraded Southwest Airlines to "underperform" from "market perform" on Monday. Vernon has a 24 price target on LUV and the analyst told investors Monday that Southwest's 2023 "was a mess" while 2024 is setting up to be a transitional year.
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