The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is outpacing the ASX 200 today, but what's causing this superiority?
Qantas shares are currently trading hands at $5.34 apiece, up 0.95% on yesterday's closing price, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.2% at the time of writing.
Since releasing its FY22 results last Thursday, the Qantas share price has risen almost 10% and continues to gather pace.
Today's momentum may have been propelled by updates provided by Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) and Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB).
Webjet announces strong growth in bookings
As reported by my colleague Mitchell Lawler, Webjet disclosed plenty of positive results for the first half of FY23.
Webjet advised today that bookings are currently tracking at 95% of pre-pandemic levels and all three of its business segments are profitable for the FY23 trading year to date. This bodes well for Qantas as the upward trend of travel bookings means more flights.
Webjet management also flagged that tourism is returning to Australia and New Zealand, which is another great sign for Qantas.
Interestingly, the Webjet share price is 9% higher at the time of writing while the Flight Centre share price is up 3% today.
Flight centre responds to media speculation
Yesterday, Flight Centre addressed rumours of possible merger and acquisition activity, as covered by my colleague Brooke Cooper.
The Australian reported that US travel management giant Altour could be a takeover target for Flight Centre. Altour recorded more than $3 billion in sales in 2019 before the pandemic hit.
In response to the rumours, Flight Centre is keeping details close to its chest, advising it will not respond to any media speculation.
Management, however, did advise they would consider acquisition opportunities to support organic growth.
Qantas share price snapshot
Despite recording a massive loss of $1.9 billion in FY22, the Qantas share price has managed to rise by 10% since the figure was revealed.
Unlike many other ASX growth stocks, the Qantas share price has risen by 5% in the last year and is rallying almost 17% higher across the past month. In contrast, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has fallen by 7% in the last year and declined by 0.03% in the past month.
It seems like generally positive news for online travel agencies has flowed onto Qantas, however, investors ought to be mindful that airline stocks tend to be cyclical.
Qantas' current market capitalisation is around $10.1 billion.
