New York, June 2, 2026, 05:03 EDT
- American Airlines traded at $14.34 ahead of the U.S. regular session, after dropping 2.05% on Monday.
- Morgan Stanley bumped its price target to $24 from $20. Fuel costs are still the biggest issue for the airline trade.
- American dropped out of the Dow Jones Transportation Average as of June 1, with FedEx Freight taking its place.
American Airlines Group Inc. shares held lower ahead of Tuesday’s regular Nasdaq open, with the stock last trading at $14.34, off 29 cents from Monday’s close, market data showed. Morgan Stanley bumped its price target, but investors kept selling as they looked at rising fuel costs and American’s drop from a long-standing transport index.
U.S. markets were still closed before the bell. Premarket trading saw action ahead of the regular 9:30 a.m. ET open. Nasdaq’s 2026 calendar points to Juneteenth, June 19, as the next full U.S. market holiday.
American ended Monday at $14.34, down 2.05%. The S&P 500 was up 0.26%, the Dow tacked on 0.09%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.42%. Still, the stock was up 23.65% over the last month, beating the market’s 6.32% gain over that period, according to Nasdaq-listed Zacks data.
Morgan Stanley lifted its price target for American to $24 from $20 while holding its Overweight rating, TipRanks said. “Overweight” calls are when a broker sees a stock beating the benchmark or peers; it does not guarantee a gain. With Monday’s close, the new price target points to about 67% upside. TipRanks
Fuel is where pressure keeps showing. Brent and U.S. West Texas Intermediate both dropped more than 1% early Tuesday, coming off a jump on Monday, but prices are still high for recent weeks. Brent slipped 1.6% to $93.46 a barrel, with WTI down 1.6% at $90.73, according to Reuters. UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said Trump’s comments pointing to de-escalation weighed on crude, although “oil flows through the Strait remain restricted.” Reuters
Jet fuel prices are a big deal for airlines, since fuel is one of their main costs. JetBlue Airways bumped up its Q2 fuel-cost outlook on Monday after issues in the Strait of Hormuz pushed jet fuel prices higher. Shares of JetBlue dropped 9% in early trade. Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said JetBlue’s outlook was based on the May 22 Brent forward curve, which she said has improved since then.
American CEO Robert Isom tried to calm investors last week, telling a Bernstein conference the airline isn’t changing its full-year forecast, despite projecting $4 billion to $5 billion in extra fuel costs for this year. Isom said the company is about 80% booked for the second quarter, with corporate travel up 13% from last year and leisure demand still “incredibly” strong. Reuters
American’s April update had mixed signals. The airline put up record Q1 revenue at $13.9 billion, but GAAP net loss was $382 million. For the full year, American sees adjusted earnings anywhere from a 40-cent loss to $1.10 profit per share. The company said the full-year midpoint is about flat with 2025, and that’s after absorbing over $4 billion more in jet-fuel charges.
American has been active on its balance sheet. In a May 29 filing, the airline said it refinanced $1.1468 billion in existing term loans and added $703.2 million in new term loans. These combined 2026 term loans now mature in May 2033. The loans carry interest at either a base rate plus 2 points or SOFR plus 3 points.
Index shuffling had an effect too. S&P Dow Jones Indices said FedEx Freight stepped in for American in the Dow Jones Transportation Average before the open on June 1. The index group noted American’s weighting dropped to under half a percent, since the DJTA is price-weighted. That puts more weight on stocks with higher prices.
Competitive pressure remains. Reuters said American lags Delta Air Lines and United Airlines on profits, with Isom citing premium seats, stronger hubs, and loyalty revenue as ways to catch up. Delta traded at $81.47 and United at $111.76 this morning, both down from previous closes.
Crude prices are the clear risk here. If oil moves higher, or if higher fares push away lower-income travelers, American might not boost revenue quickly enough to offset fuel costs. If bookings weaken, that debt refinancing could look less like an advantage and more like a warning on the airline’s heavy fixed costs in a market that’s still swinging.
