Irrational Moves for Airlines Stocks after Election and Vaccine Results
After former Vice President Biden was predicted the winner of the U.S. presidential election on Saturday morning, stock futures opened higher on Sunday evening. The gains were across the board for the major U.S. indices and they ranged from 1.5% to 2.0%. Then on Monday morning, Pfizer (PFE) announced results from its vaccine trials and they showed a 90% success rate in blocking the virus. This news sent markets soaring higher all over the globe and U.S. index futures jumped anywhere from 4% to 7% on the Russell.
Once the market opened we saw huge moves from certain industries and sectors. There were big moves on both sides as some stocks jumped 15-20% and others fell just as sharply. Investors reacted as if the vaccine was going to be available tomorrow and that everyone in the world was going to rush out to get it.
Some of the biggest movers to the upside were the airlines stocks. I pulled up United Airlines (UAL), American Airlines (AAL), and Delta Air Lines (DAL) on Tickeron in order to check how these companies rated in both the fundamentals and the technical indicators. When I ran the comparison, the first thing that jumped out at me was how the three stocks were doing at midday on Monday.
We see United up 18.69%, American up 17.28%, and Delta up 14.99%. And I get it, the news about an effective vaccine is a big game changer and the first step for life getting back to normal when it comes to traveling and such. But again, the vaccine won’t be available for another few months and even then it’s not like people are going to jump on planes as readily as they did before the pandemic.
If we look at the fundamental ratings for these three companies, there are very few positive ratings—only one for United and two for American. American has a strong SMR Rating and a good Valuation Rating. The only positive for United is the Seasonality aspect. There aren’t any positive ratings for Delta.
All three stocks have poor Outlook Ratings and all three score a 100 in the Profit Vs. Risk Rating and that is the worst possible score. All three also score poorly in the P/E Growth Rating. United and Delta both score very poorly in the SMR Ratings.
The stocks score much better in the technical analysis indicators with all three receiving four bullish signals. United has five bearish signals to offset the four bullish signals. Delta and American both have six bearish signals to cancel out the four bullish signals. All three stocks have bullish signals in three areas—the Stochastic Indicators, the Weekly Trend, and the Bollinger Bands.
The full breakdown appears below, but I personally feel these moves are irrational, knee-jerk reactions.
AAL's MACD Histogram just turned positive
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for AAL turned positive on April 09, 2025. Looking at past instances where AAL's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in of 48 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Technical Analysis (Indicators)
Bullish Trend Analysis
The RSI Indicator points to a transition from a downward trend to an upward trend -- in cases where AAL's RSI Indicator exited the oversold zone, of 36 resulted in an increase in price. Tickeron's analysis proposes that the odds of a continued upward trend are .
The Momentum Indicator moved above the 0 level on April 25, 2025. You may want to consider a long position or call options on AAL as a result. In of 85 past instances where the momentum indicator moved above 0, the stock continued to climb. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
AAL moved above its 50-day moving average on May 08, 2025 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where AAL advanced for three days, in of 277 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Bearish Trend Analysis
The Stochastic Oscillator demonstrated that the ticker has stayed in the overbought zone for 8 days. The longer the ticker stays in the overbought zone, the sooner a price pull-back is expected.
The 50-day moving average for AAL moved below the 200-day moving average on April 14, 2025. This could be a long-term bearish signal for the stock as the stock shifts to an downward trend.
AAL broke above its upper Bollinger Band on May 02, 2025. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options.
The Aroon Indicator for AAL entered a downward trend on April 15, 2025. This could indicate a strong downward move is ahead for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options.
The Tickeron SMR rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating very strong sales and a profitable business model. SMR (Sales, Margin, Return on Equity) rating is based on comparative analysis of weighted Sales, Income Margin and Return on Equity values compared against S&P 500 index constituents. The weighted SMR value is a proprietary formula developed by Tickeron and represents an overall profitability measure for a stock.
The Tickeron Seasonality Score of (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is fair valued in the industry. The Tickeron Seasonality score describes the variance of predictable price changes around the same period every calendar year. These changes can be tied to a specific month, quarter, holiday or vacation period, as well as a meteorological or growing season.
The Tickeron Valuation Rating of (best 1 - 100 worst) indicates that the company is fair valued in the industry. This rating compares market capitalization estimated by our proprietary formula with the current market capitalization. This rating is based on the following metrics, as compared to industry averages: P/B Ratio (0.000) is normal, around the industry mean (2.679). P/E Ratio (11.110) is within average values for comparable stocks, (23.317). Projected Growth (PEG Ratio) (0.379) is also within normal values, averaging (2.326). AAL has a moderately low Dividend Yield (0.000) as compared to the industry average of (0.035). P/S Ratio (0.148) is also within normal values, averaging (0.603).
The Tickeron Price Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating fairly steady price growth. AAL’s price grows at a lower rate over the last 12 months as compared to S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron PE Growth Rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), pointing to worse than average earnings growth. The PE Growth rating is based on a comparative analysis of stock PE ratio increase over the last 12 months compared against S&P 500 index constituents.
The Tickeron Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for this company is (best 1 - 100 worst), indicating that the returns do not compensate for the risks. AAL’s unstable profits reported over time resulted in significant Drawdowns within these last five years. A stable profit reduces stock drawdown and volatility. The average Profit vs. Risk Rating rating for the industry is 79, placing this stock worse than average.
Notable companies
Industry description
Market Cap
High and low price notable news
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Fundamental Analysis Ratings
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
General Information
a provider of air transportation services for passengers and cargo
Industry Airlines