Why Shares of Airlines and Travel Businesses Are Higher Today

Shares of airlines and the businesses that support the industry have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused travel demand to all but evaporate and left airlines scrambling to cut costs.

We know the near-term damage to these businesses will be severe, but what we don't know is how long that damage will last. In recent days, markets have traded higher on a belief the worst of the pandemic might soon be behind us, sparking hope of a late spring recovery.

Shares of United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL) gained 10% on Wednesday, while shares of American Airlines Group (NASDAQ: AAL) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) both were up 5% around midday. And some of the businesses that rely on the airlines have performed well, too, with online travel agency Expedia Group (NASDAQ: EXPE) up more than 6% and Sabre (NASDAQ: SABR), which runs the back-end reservation systems for many airlines, up 8%.

Source Fool.com