Airlines seek altitude

After opening strongly Monday morning as the US Senate made progress toward ending the government shutdown, many domestic airline stocks quickly slipped into negative territory for the day.

The retreat likely disappointed airline bulls who have watched some of the industry’s larger names struggle to match their early-2025 highs, even as the broad market pushed to repeated record highs in the second half of the year.

As of Monday, United Airlines (UAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), and American Airlines (AAL), were all in the red for the year, but AAL was the only one with a significant loss. (The chart above shows each stock’s 2025 return as of Monday morning, although the start date is in February.)

Despite their underwhelming performance to start the week, Morgan Stanley & Co. analysts suggest airlines may have an emerging tailwind in the form of accelerating corporate travel. Based on their survey of roughly 160 corporate travel managers conducted in October, 2025 travel budgets are up 6.2% year over year. The analysts currently expect that trend to continue in 2026, with approximately 5% growth, on average. Also, they see the potential for corporate negotiated airfares to rise around 3.7% in 2026, which would be the first time the rate accelerated between surveys since 2022.¹

Market Mover Update: December gold futures (GCZ5) posted their biggest up day in nearly a month on Monday, rallying 3% to a two-week high of $4,126.50.

Today’s earnings include: AstraZeneca (AZN), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Dillard's (DDS), Oklo (OKLO).

Click here to log on to your account or learn more about E*TRADE's trading platforms, or follow the Company on Twitter, @ETRADE, for useful trading and investing insights.

¹ MorganStanley.com. Global Corporate Travel Survey: First Sequential Fare Acceleration Since 2022. 11/10/25.