Airline partnerships can be beneficial if done correctly, particularly for the smaller party in the arrangement. Speculation about one in the works has benefited the shares of veteran carrier JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) across the past few trading sessions despite the company reporting a loss-making quarter on Wednesday.
Investors decided they liked what they heard, on balance. As of late Thursday night, the company's stock price was climbing nearly 13% higher week to date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
A busy news week for the carrier
JetBlue's first-quarter revenue totaled $2.14 billion, representing a 3% decline from the same period in 2024. On the bottom line, the company managed to narrow its GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) net loss to $208 million ($0.59 per share) from the year-ago deficit of $716 million. On average, the pundits tracking JetBlue stock were anticipating $2.16 billion for revenue and a slightly deeper net loss of $0.61 per share.
Yet, to many investors, that wasn't the crucial news about JetBlue. A Reuters report published Thursday morning, quoting a trio of "industry sources familiar with the matter," stated that JetBlue and larger peer United Airlines are discussing a partnership.
This would supplant the attempted tie-up between JetBlue and American Airlines Group on busy routes in the northeastern U.S. The effort was quashed in 2023 in an antitrust case brought by the government's Department of Justice (DOJ) two years earlier.
Legal eagles in the sky
If Reuters's sources for the story are accurate, it seems JetBlue is treading more carefully this time. According to the news agency, the potential United Airlines partnership will center on connectivity for fliers and their opportunities to earn frequent-flier miles rather than coordination on scheduling and pricing.
As the smaller of the two companies apparently engaged in the partnership talks, JetBlue likely has more to gain from a collaboration. Yet, government antitrust officials are a wary bunch and might get litigious about this effort, too. Care is warranted here.
Should you invest $1,000 in JetBlue Airways right now?
Before you buy stock in JetBlue Airways, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and JetBlue Airways wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $610,327!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $667,581!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 882% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 161% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025
Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
