What Happened?
Shares of airline company United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL) fell 3.3% in the morning session after a cyber-attack on a key airline software provider triggered widespread flight delays across Europe, weighing on the entire airline sector. The issue stemmed from Collins Aerospace, a company that provides crucial check-in and boarding software. Major European airports, including London Heathrow, struggled to restore normal operations after the attack disrupted systems. The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity confirmed that Collins Aerospace had suffered a ransomware attack. This event created a ripple effect across the industry, as shares of other major carriers also dropped. For instance, British Airways' owner, IAG, and other European airlines experienced declines as investors reacted to the potential financial impact of the widespread operational disruptions.
The stock market overreacts to news, and big price drops can present good opportunities to buy high-quality stocks. Is now the time to buy United Airlines? Access our full analysis report here, it’s free.
What Is The Market Telling Us
United Airlines’s shares are very volatile and have had 25 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 13 days ago when the stock dropped 3.5% as a significant downward revision of U.S. job creation data raised concerns about the health of the economy. The Labor Department reported that employers added 911,000 fewer jobs from April 2024 through March 2025 than initially estimated. This revision brings the average monthly job gains during that period down significantly, suggesting a cooler labor market. The downgrades were widespread across various service sectors. The largest revisions were seen in leisure and hospitality, which added 176,000 fewer jobs than first reported, followed by professional and business services and retail. Such data is closely watched by investors and economists as it can influence the Federal Reserve's decisions on interest rates. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that the U.S. economy is "weakening," though he stopped short of predicting a recession. "Whether it's on the way to recession or just weakening, I don't know," he said. Dimon's remarks are closely watched, given his influence as head of one of the nation's largest banks.
United Airlines is up 7.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $102.68 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $110.52 from January 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of United Airlines’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,014.
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