Tag Archives: Allegiant Airlines

What the Heck Happened To Allegiant (ALGT) Shares?

I received a handful of notes today from readers asking me about the sharp drop off in the price of Allegiant Travel Company shares.

As you can see by the chart the stock took a beating today on the street.

So what gives?

Nothing to worry about as far as I can tell.

This stock is proving itself to be a classic airline “trading” stock, and as such whenever the folks who have ridden the stock get the feeling that the good times may be over for the time being — it’s time to sell.

And with all the press the stock received over the weekend in regard to its stellar 2008 performance, that is a classic signal for traders to sell. And sell they did.

It’s not, as far as I can tell, a fundamental issue of any kind.

Nor have we heard rumors of CEO Maury Gallagher suffering from any kind of “hormonal imbalance.”

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Airline Stock Winners for 2008: Allegiant (ALGT) Gets Top Performance Nod

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When all was said and done, and the crystal ball descended in Times Square Wednesday night — I know that you were, just as I was, chomping at the bit to know the answer to one burning question.

Which airline stock was the top performer in 2008?

Against all odds, including floods, snow, sleet, testy employees and the darkness of oil (prices), which airline stock still managed to shine brightly against the setting sun of demand?

I am very happy to report that the airline stock that posted the highest return to shareholders in 2008 was one of our favorite airline stocks here at PlaneBusiness.

That stock was — Allegiant Travel Company. The company is the parent of Allegiant Airlines.

The airline, which managed to continue to post profits in 2008 — even though it was flying fuel-guzzling MD-80s, saw its shares climb a whopping 51% for the year, ending 2008 at 48.57 a share.

Not surprisingly, this year was one of the worst on record in terms of yearly gains and losses for the things with wings, collectively speaking.

Of all the airline and airline-related stocks we track, only four managed to post a gain for the year.

Those four were:

Allegiant 51%

Hawaiian Airlines 25%

JetBlue 20.3%

Alaska Air Group 17%

*Alaska and JetBlue are also two PlaneBusiness favorite stocks.

To see how your favorite (or not-so-favorite) airline stock performed in 2008, click here.