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Best Airline Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top airline stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best airline stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best airline stocks to buy right now are:

Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) is the #1 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of A. Stocks with a rating of A have had an average return of +32.52% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: A, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: A.

Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) has a Due Diligence Score of 40, which is 11 points higher than the airline industry average of 29.

LTM passed 14 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Latam Airlines Group Sa has seen its stock return 111.07% over the past year, overperforming other airline stocks by 89 percentage points.

Latam Airlines Group Sa has an average 1 year price target of $75.00, an upside of 15.67% from Latam Airlines Group Sa's current stock price of $64.84.

Latam Airlines Group Sa stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Latam Airlines Group Sa, 100% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is the #2 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is: Value: C, Growth: A, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 21 points higher than the airline industry average of 29.

LUV passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Southwest Airlines Co has seen its stock return 74.53% over the past year, overperforming other airline stocks by 53 percentage points.

Southwest Airlines Co has an average 1 year price target of $47.50, a downside of -12.46% from Southwest Airlines Co's current stock price of $54.26.

Southwest Airlines Co stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 15 analysts covering Southwest Airlines Co, 20% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 6.67% have issued a Buy, 60% have issued a hold, while 6.67% have issued a Sell rating, and 6.67% have issued a Strong Sell.

Copa Holdings Sa (NYSE:CPA) is the #3 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +19.88% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Copa Holdings Sa (NYSE:CPA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Copa Holdings Sa (NYSE:CPA) has a Due Diligence Score of 41, which is 12 points higher than the airline industry average of 29.

CPA passed 16 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Copa Holdings Sa has seen its stock return 69.07% over the past year, overperforming other airline stocks by 47 percentage points.

Copa Holdings Sa has an average 1 year price target of $157.50, an upside of 2.21% from Copa Holdings Sa's current stock price of $154.09.

Copa Holdings Sa stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 4 analysts covering Copa Holdings Sa, 75% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 3 airline stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 airline stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Ryanair Holdings (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has an annual dividend yield of 1.44%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 1.22%. Ryanair Holdings's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Ryanair Holdings's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ryanair Holdings's dividend payout ratio of 37.5% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has an annual dividend yield of 1.33%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 1.22%. Southwest Airlines Co's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Southwest Airlines Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Southwest Airlines Co's dividend payout ratio of 87.8% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) has an annual dividend yield of 0.9%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 1.22%. Delta Air Lines's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Delta Air Lines's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Delta Air Lines's dividend payout ratio of 8.9% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Airline stocks were up 6.36% in the last day, and up 12.36% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why airline stocks are up.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued airline stocks right now are:

Grupo Aeromexico Sab De CV (NYSE:AERO) is the most undervalued airline stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Grupo Aeromexico Sab De CV has a valuation score of 0, which is -35 points higher than the airline industry average of 35. It passed 0 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates AERO a Valuation Rating of "B".

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) is the second most undervalued airline stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

American Airlines Group has a valuation score of 86, which is 51 points higher than the airline industry average of 35. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

American Airlines Group's stock has dropped -10.67% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -32 percentage points.

United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) is the third most undervalued airline stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

United Airlines Holdings has a valuation score of 100, which is 65 points higher than the airline industry average of 35. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

United Airlines Holdings's stock has gained 6.19% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -15 percentage points.

40% of airline stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect airline stocks to rise by 7.29% over the next year.

6.25% of airline stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 12.5% of airline stocks are rated B (Buy), 56.25% are rated C (Hold), 18.75% are rated D (Sell), and 6.25% are rated F (Strong Sell).