American Airlines Shares Drop After Fuel Cost Surprise Hits AAL Earnings Hopes
American Airlines Group Inc. shares dropped hard Wednesday. AAL closed at about $13.42, off 4.8%. Investors shrugged off new corporate updates and kept watching fuel costs, which are again eating into the revenue lift American is targeting for 2026. Airlines fell across the board. Delta Air Lines dropped 5.79%, United Airlines lost 6.25% and Southwest Airlines slipped 4.10%. That came as the S&P 500 dropped 1.62% and the Dow Jones lost 1.87% in the same session. Airline stocks tend to move together when oil jumps. Fuel costs are a major hit for the sector and higher crude can squeeze margins fast.