US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC)

US Airways Group, Inc. (LCC) This company's primary business activity is in the operation of a major network air carrier through its ownership of the common stock of US Airways, America West Holdings, Piedmont, PSA, MSC and AAL. Briefing.com says you can continue to see these stocks rise as oil prices weaken. US Airways air traffic went down .08% for July but analysts continue to say for you to watch for a rise in this stock. It is a Buy!!!

Do or Die.... Should merge with someone

U.S airways has gone down in the short run because of the swine flue scare. It is going down in the long run because people are now driving since fuel is so expensive. You can see that air line companies are hurting. They charge more for beverages and food on the plane. They make you pay more for suitcases. Everything has gone up which has made customer traffic go down.

Two airlines in a mess added together don't equal a good airline. It'll be bogged down in trying to combine separate employee groups, aircraft fleet types, maintenance programs, and marketing pretty much forever.

See AMR story - and will eventally be bought out

poor performance and ongoing labor issues make it a bad company. Oil above $120/barrel makes it an unsustainable company.

Too much investment

The hoped-for colsolidation in the airline industry that would allow legacy carriers to raise fares is not going to happen IMO. To make a small fortune running an airline, simply start with a large fortune. If nothing else, when LCC made a bid for Delta, the share price shot up. When the deal fell through, the share price shot up. You can't have it both ways. LCC will fall.

No measurable insider ownership, all institutional. LT debt is 3x cash on hand, 7 analysts currently following. Unfortunately this whole industry is very volitle based on oil/fuel costs. Just under 1B in negative cash flow last year. I don't know that I agree that you're going to get much revenue by charging extra for window seats or sitting at the front of the plane. I personally switched to another airline when I found that they wanted to charge me for a window seat when checking in online, versus taking whatever was left upon arrival at the airport. Of discount carriers, AirTran and Southwest are the best to fly, and of the main carriers I pick American. No doubt this stock will go up just because the industry has been beaten to a pulp, but long term staying power is not thre unless they do some serious re-thinking at the top. I'll be optimistically watching and hoping the guys at the top can come up with better ways to increase revenues, decrease costs, and attract passengers.

It's an airline. And a lousy one at that.

This is an experimental portfolio consisting of small-cap or larger picks that have recently entered the $1.50-3.00 range (favoring the low end), with the theory being that most stocks entering this range are not going to stay there unless they've been there for a while already.
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Heavily laden with debt, but they at least have a better cost structure than the other legacy carriers (the whole three of them, now) due to having combined with low-cost carrier America West. They actually have a half-shot at turning a profit, and if they can do that in this market, up she goes.

LCC is still valued at only 84% of its enterprise value (at ~47.46). This business is certainly worth more as a going concern than as a bankruptcy.

Part of my short airline Chapter 11 basket trade.

Here's an interesting tidbit: from it's inception to today, the airline industry has _never_ made money.

oil

Oil, union problems, no clear vision of where this company is trying to go.

LCC is undervalue even at its recent price. LCC has learned the way to survive in time like this one. Other carriers just don't know how to keep going.

The company has 2.7 Billion in unrestricted cash, they are making money (per year); although, they might lose a little in this the toughest of quarters. They are making strides in customer service and international markets (although the international thing is overplayed). Say the P/E is at 10, even with reduced earnings this should be in the $22 range. It is great to talk about Buffet's famous quote without looking at how he "picks" stocks. This stock has potential issues (labor, fuel, customer service) but they are starting to handle them and were making money with the problems; I see this going back up.

High fuel prices and management.