The COVID-19 recession has presented a truly unique scenario that has crushed the travel industry more than many other key industries that are crucial to the economy. While even the major industry leaders looked as though they might suddenly be at risk and on the verge of bankruptcy, many of the key travel and destination stocks had recovered massively from their lows. As the economy has started to reopen for business, the predictable rise in COVID-19 cases has the public rethinking the entire “reopen the economy” trade.

Thursday may have seen another big drop in jobless claims, but with the United States now having more than 2 million COVID-19 cases and with hospitalizations on the rise, the public may have to rethink many of those travel plans this summer and later into 2020.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) may not be a travel stock on the surface, but guess what happens when you are the primary jet supplier to the airline industry and can’t give away any planes because the customer base is broke. Boeing had already gotten too far over its skis when it surged beyond $200 a share (after going under $100 at the peak panic), but Boeing shares were down 8.9% at $185.50 on Thursday morning, after closing at $230.50 just on Monday.

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) confessed that revenue in the second quarter would be down 90% and that has bled over into other aspects of the travel industry. Delta’s stock price was down about 8% at $29.15 on Thursday morning. That compares with a low of almost $17.50 at the peak of the selling panic, but it’s still down from a 52-week high of $63.44. Delta shares closed at $36.97 on Monday.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is still considered healthier than some other airlines, but its stock was down 12.5% at $34.85, after briefly dipping under $20 during the peak panic. To see just how “overly euphoric” things had become, note that its recovery high closing price was $48.69 just on Monday.

Southwest Airline Co. (NYSE: LUV) also was down a sharp 9% at $33.90 on Thursday morning. After having traded down to about $22.50 at the peak of the panic selling, Southwest had risen to close as high as $40.59 on Monday.

Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) is the biggest cruise line operator of them all. Carnival shares were last seen trading down 11% at $18.33. While it traded under $10 during the panic selling, Carnival shares had risen so much that it closed at $24.91 as recently as Monday.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE: RCL) was last seen trading down 9% at $58.05 on Thursday, and its close this past Monday was $75.12.

Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG) may be only the booking and riskless part of the travel industry, but its stock was down over 5% at $1,640 on Thursday. It almost traded as low as $1,100 during the peak of the selling mania, but it had recovered to reach $1,850 briefly earlier in the week at the zenith of the reopening euphoria.

Expedia Group Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPE) was down about 5% at $83.10 on Thursday. That is still up 100% from its panic selling lows, but Expedia also somehow managed to get all the way back to $97.50 earlier this week at the peak of the euphoria.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HTZ) has been the most puzzling stock of them all. Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, many investors, and even more day traders, have been hoping that there would be “more than zero” left for the common shareholders. Hertz was down almost 17% at $2.10 on Thursday morning. Its shares had reached a panic low of $0.40 after the bankruptcy filing, but investors and traders had chased it up to a close of $5.53 just on Monday. No one should care now that Hertz used to be a $20 stock.

Avis Budget Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) was down 10% at $24.35 on Thursday morning. It had plummeted as low as $6.35 at the selling mania’s peak, and it was as high as $52.98 in the past year. Shares closed at $32.28 as recently as Monday.

Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) may be diversified as a media and entertainment company, but the theme parks are still the linchpin of its operations. Unfortunately, every aspect of its sports, theme parks, cruises and travel and movies are suffering, even if its shares have recovered. Disney’s stock price was down 3.7% at $117.75 on Thursday morning. It traded under $80 during the manic selling, but Disney shares had recovered to close up at $127.28 on Monday.

Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: SIX) is of course a pure-play on destination theme parks. The stock was last seen down 8.5% at $22.50 on Thursday morning. That may be up more than 100% from its lows during the panic selling, but Six Flags closed as high as $27.06 just on Monday.

Marriott International Inc. (NYSE: MAR) is the top hotel chain with a $31 billion market cap, but its shares were down 7.5% at $94.90 on Thursday after the open. Marriott briefly traded under $50 during the panic selling, but its recovery rally went to a euphoric closing high of $113.14 on Monday.

Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) was down 6% at $56.21 on Thursday, versus a low of under $25 during the selling mania. Hyatt’s highest close during this recovery was $67.50.

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (NASDAQ: WYNN) had been recovering with the reopening trade, and the casinos are reopening. Wynn was down almost 6% at $93.15 on Thursday, up from a panic selling low of $35.84 and still down from a two-week high of $53.41. Wynn managed to close as high as $108.80 as recently as Monday.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) was down just 4% at $49.75 on Thursday morning. It still has a $38 billion market cap, but its 52-week range of $33.30 to $74.29 shows just how much the panic and euphoria has been. Las Vegas Sands closed at $55.64 on Monday.

The reality is that there are dozens of companies in the travel and destination space. To cover all of them would only make things look that much worse. It’s obvious their share prices fell too far during the panic, but the government support and the reopening of the economy also brought too much enthusiasm and “fear of missing out” for investors who couldn’t stop bidding up the shares.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.