Southwest shares close higher on Tuesday, air carrier orders 100 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

Southwest Airlines Co (LUV) said earlier this week that it had ordered 100 737 MAX aircraft from Boeing Co and would take delivery of the first 30 planes in 2022.

Every 737 MAX 7 jet costs about $100 million at list prices, but these planes usually sell for less than 50% of their official price with typical market discounts, according to Reuters, citing aircraft industry sources.

The company said that 70 orders for the 737 MAX 8 had been converted to 737 MAX 7 orders and it also had additional 155 optional orders for 737 MAX 7 or 737 MAX 8 jets for 2022 through 2029.

Following the changes in the air carrier’s order book, Southwest now has a total of 349 orders and 270 options for the 737 MAX aircraft for 2021 through 2031.

The shares of Southwest Airlines closed higher for the sixth time in the past ten trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. The stock went up 1.56% ($0.95) to $61.91, after touching an intraday low at $61.08 and an intraday high at $62.22 respectively.

The shares of Southwest Airlines Company have risen 32.83% so far in 2021 compared with a 5.39% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2020, Southwest Airlines Co’s stock went down 13.65%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 16.26% gain.