JetBlue, US Airways, AMR Corp. Shares Jump on UBS Jet-Fuel Price Estimates (JBLU, LLC, AMR)

UBS lowers its jet-fuel price estimates to 2010 - which means it sees increased profits (or narrower losses) for airlines. This is great news for airline stocks and the companies that are really taking off are JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) up 5%, US Airways (NYSE:LLC) up 9% and AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR) up 7%.
A classic "I love it when a plan comes together' move for the airline stocks.

(Reuters.com) The Arca airline index .XAL was up more than 4 percent in morning trading.

UBS raised price targets on airlines including Alaska Air Group (ALK.N), American parent AMR Corp (AMR.N), United Airlines parent UAL Corp (UAUA.O), Continental Airlines (CAL.N) and Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), the industry leader.

In recent weeks, executives from carriers such as Delta, AMR and UAL have noted signs of a rebound that point to improved outlooks for 2010, including better business travel demand.

Last week, Delta told investors that it expects unit revenue to turn positive in the first quarter, and the company president cited "real tangible evidence that a recovery is under way."

Falling demand, especially for high-end business travel, has been a drag on airline performance in the past year as the recession eroded corporate travel budgets.

Credit Suisse analyst Robert Spingarn said in a note to clients on Tuesday that better airline traffic trends also bode well for commercial aerospace service providers such as Goodrich Corp (GR.N).

Spingarn estimated that November traffic figures due to be released by the International Air Transport Association by the end of this month could show growth of 1 to 2 percent year over year.

"In November, the six-largest U.S. airline carriers reported their best results in 18 months," Spingarn wrote.

SOURCE: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BL2PK20091222?type=globalMarketsNews