U.S. travel and leisure stocks surged on Wednesday after BioNtech SE and Pfizer Inc. said a three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine was able to neutralize the new Omicron variant.
Shares of U.S. airlines—including Delta Air Lines Inc., United Airlines Holdings Inc., American Airlines Group Inc., and Southwest Airlines Co.—rose between 0.95 percent and 2.26 percent in premarket trading.
Their shares were also helped by Southwest’s forecast of posting a profit in the fourth quarter as opposed to its earlier projections of a loss on a rebound in travel across the United States and higher fares.
Hotel chains Hyatt Hotels Corp., Marriott International Inc., and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. were up between 0.30 percent and 1.17 percent, while travel booking websites Expedia Group Inc. and Booking Holdings Inc. rose more than 2 percent each.
