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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 +28.50% 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:

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is the #1 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

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

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has a Due Diligence Score of 55, which is 27 points higher than the airline industry average of 28.

LUV passed 20 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Southwest Airlines Co has seen its stock return 41.07% over the past year, overperforming other airline stocks by 30 percentage points.

Southwest Airlines Co has an average 1 year price target of $50.63, an upside of 13.89% from Southwest Airlines Co's current stock price of $44.45.

Southwest Airlines Co stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 16 analysts covering Southwest Airlines Co, 31.25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 18.75% have issued a Buy, 37.5% have issued a hold, while 6.25% have issued a Sell rating, and 6.25% have issued a Strong Sell.

Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) is the #2 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

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

Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) has a Due Diligence Score of 23, which is -5 points lower than the airline industry average of 28.

LTM passed 9 out of 38 due diligence checks and has weak fundamentals. Latam Airlines Group Sa has seen its stock return 9.28% over the past year, underperforming other airline stocks by -1 percentage points.

Latam Airlines Group Sa has an average 1 year price target of $70.00, an upside of 46.84% from Latam Airlines Group Sa's current stock price of $47.67.

Latam Airlines Group Sa stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts 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.

Republic Airways Holdings (NASDAQ:RJET) is the #3 top airline stock out of 18 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Republic Airways Holdings (NASDAQ:RJET) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Republic Airways Holdings (NASDAQ:RJET) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 19 points higher than the airline industry average of 28.

RJET passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Republic Airways Holdings has seen its stock lose -4.73% over the past year, underperforming other airline stocks by -15 percentage points.

Out of 5 airline stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 airline stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Copa Holdings Sa (NYSE:CPA) has an annual dividend yield of 3.59%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the airline industry average of 1.7%. Copa Holdings Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Copa Holdings Sa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Copa Holdings Sa's dividend payout ratio of 39.6% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Ryanair Holdings (NASDAQ:RYAAY) has an annual dividend yield of 2.26%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the airline industry average of 1.7%. 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 32.5% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has an annual dividend yield of 1.62%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 1.7%. 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 34.4% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Airline stocks were up 1.71% in the last day, and up 9.83% over the last week. Surf Air Mobility was the among the top gainers in the airlines industry, gaining 1.59% yesterday.

SRFM stock has given up its prior loss. Surf Air Mobility shares were trading lower after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 EPS results.

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 29, which is -2 points higher than the airline industry average of 31. It passed 2 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".

Grupo Aeromexico Sab De CV's stock has dropped -19.21% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -30 percentage points.

Latam Airlines Group Sa (NYSE:LTM) 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.

Latam Airlines Group Sa has a valuation score of 29, which is -2 points higher than the airline industry average of 31. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates LTM a Valuation Rating of "B".

Latam Airlines Group Sa's stock has gained 9.28% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -1 percentage points.

Skywest (NASDAQ:SKYW) 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.

Skywest has a valuation score of 71, which is 40 points higher than the airline industry average of 31. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Skywest's stock has dropped -18.06% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -29 percentage points.

43.75% of airline stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect airline stocks to rise by 33.74% over the next year.

0% of airline stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of airline stocks are rated B (Buy), 83.33% are rated C (Hold), 5.56% are rated D (Sell), and 11.11% are rated F (Strong Sell).