United Pursued Delta Merger Talks; Airline Stocks Jump on Oil Plunge
DAL sits 73% above its 52-week low of $50.445.
Summary
United Airlines approached Delta about a megamerger last year, the WSJ reports, though talks didn't progress. The revelation adds a new dimension to industry consolidation speculation, but the immediate stock move is driven by a 7.1% drop in Brent crude to $85.17, easing fuel cost pressures that have weighed on the sector. Delta, United, American, and Southwest are all up more than 3% pre-market. This follows a tough July where the JETS ETF fell 9.4% amid rising oil and unconvincing earnings. The merger angle is a long-shot given antitrust hurdles, but falling oil provides a tangible near-term tailwind.
At the time of this announcement, DAL was trading at $87.50 on NYSE in the Energy & Transportation sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $55.9B. The 52-week trading range was $50.45 to $95.68. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.