This column is part of the Heard on the Street stock-picking contest. You’re invited toAfter a disastrous 2020, travel has begun recovering in 2021, offering some hope for beleaguered airline investors. Chinese airlines weathered the initial storm relatively well, as domestic tourism roared back and helped cushion the hit to international travel.
One way to play a “locked away for longer” theme for China would be to sell airline stocks, particularly those like Air China with big exposure to international travel. Although the stock has struggled this year, it still looks richly priced compared with U.S. peers, trading at 16 times expected 2022 earnings, according to Wind, against nine times for Delta Air Lines and 12 times for United Airlines Holdings , according to FactSet. The stock also has to contend with Air China’s 30% stake in Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific, which has been punished by the city’s quarantine rules, among the toughest in the world.
In late 2020 and early 2021, there were good reasons to think Chinese airlines were a better bet. Middle-class Chinese, with nowhere else to go, helped drive a sharp rebound in domestic passenger traffic as the threat from the coronavirus receded. Fast progress onbeginning in the late spring also raised hopes that border controls might be loosened.
Allowing the Communists to trade on the NY stock exchange is appalling.
China will kick Biden ass, or just give Hunter more money.
Lame propaganda.
wow