Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp.
JBLU,
+0.15%
jumped 3.4% in premarket trading Monday, after Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth upgraded the air carrier, citing earnings momentum and improving trends in its core markets, including the recovery in near-international. Syth raised her rating to outperform from market perform, and set a stock price target of $24, which was 17.8% above Thursday’s closing price of $20.37. Syth noted that daily bookings accelerated from about $6 million in early March to $10 million to $12 million towards the end of the month, while the company needed to reach about $13 million to $15 million to reach operating cash flow breakeven. “Pent-up demand to beach destinations continues, with near-international (i.e., Mexico/Caribbean) recovering following the sharp but short-lived drop-off when the U.S. implemented testing for international arrivals on Jan 26,” Syth wrote in a note to clients. JetBlue’s stock has rallied 40.1% year to date through Thursday, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF
JETS,
+0.52%
has climbed 20.9% and the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.18%
has gained 7.0%.
