Southwest Airlines shares gain for a fourth straight session on Friday, 737 MAX jets to be pulled from flight schedules through May

According to a report by Reuters last week, citing a memorandum by Southwest Airlines Co, the company intends to keep its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft off flight schedules through May, thus, extending a previous timeline from April 20th.

Boeing Co has grounded its best-selling jet, the 737 MAX, following two deadly incidents in the past five months, which involved that same model.

Shares of Southwest Airlines closed higher for a fourth consecutive trading session in New York on Friday. It has also been the sharpest daily surge since February 28th. The stock went up 2.89% ($1.46) to $51.91, after touching an intraday high at $52.10, or a price level not seen since March 7th ($53.18).

Shares of Southwest Airlines Company have risen 11.68% so far in 2019 compared with a 13.07% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Southwest Airlines Co’s stock went down 28.98%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

”This will impact the lines in May, but, now that the decision has been made, we can construct our schedule without those flights well in advance in hopes to minimize the daily disruptions,” the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association and the air carrier said in the joint memorandum, cited by Reuters.

According to CNN Money, the 19 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Southwest Airlines’ stock price, have a median target of $60.00, with a high estimate of $75.00 and a low estimate of $46.00. The median estimate represents a 15.58% upside compared to the closing price of $51.91 on March 29th.

The same media also reported that 10 out of 23 surveyed investment analysts had rated Southwest Airlines’ stock as “Hold”, while 9 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Southwest Airlines Company (LUV) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $50.84
R1 – $53.18
R2 – $54.45
R3 – $56.79
R4 – $59.13

S1 – $49.57
S2 – $47.23
S3 – $45.96
S4 – $44.69