Alaska Air Group stock falls over 3 percent as Raymond James cuts price target
Published on 09/09/2026 at 14:46 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Alaska Air Group stock (ISIN US0116591092) closed at USD 40.74 on September 8, 2026 on the New York Stock Exchange, down 3.09 percent from the previous session’s close as investors reacted to sector headwinds and a recent cut in a key analyst price target.
Analyst move trims upside for Alaska Air Group
According to Yahoo Finance on August 24, 2026, Raymond James maintained its Outperform rating on Alaska Air Group but lowered its 12-month price target from USD 60 to USD 52, reducing the implied upside by USD 8 per share while still signaling confidence in the airline’s recovery trajectory. The same analyst overview shows a wider range of targets on the stock, with a low of USD 37 and a high of USD 92, highlighting how views on Alaska Air Group’s earnings power and balance-sheet resilience diverge among the 14 analysts currently covering the name.
Data compiled by MarketBeat in early September 2026 indicates that Alaska Air Group carries a consensus Moderate Buy rating, with an average price target of USD 61.88 compared with the closing price of USD 40.67, implying roughly 52.2 percent upside if the consensus proves accurate. For retail investors, this gap between where the stock trades and where analysts see fair value underlines both the perceived recovery potential and the execution risk that still surrounds the company.
Recent price action and valuation context
Per the quote page on Yahoo Finance as of September 8, 2026, Alaska Air Group shares finished regular trading at USD 40.74, having fallen 3.09 percent in that session before ticking up modestly to USD 41.25, a 1.25 percent gain, in after-hours trading. The same data set puts the current market capitalization at about USD 4.5 billion, placing Alaska Air Group in the mid-cap segment of the US airline universe.
The 52-week trading range for Alaska Air Group, drawn from the analyst target and range overview on MarketBeat, runs from USD 33.03 at the low end to USD 65.88 at the high, meaning the September 8, 2026 closing level of USD 40.74 sits closer to the bottom of that band than to the top. With the shares roughly USD 7.71 above the 52-week low but still USD 25.14 below the 52-week high, the market is currently pricing Alaska Air Group at a discount to the levels it reached when travel demand and yield trends looked stronger earlier in the year.
Trading volume on Alaska Air Group has also been active: MarketBeat reports that around 2.21 million shares changed hands in the latest session versus an average volume of 2.15 million shares, a slight increase that suggests heightened attention as investors absorb analyst revisions and sector-wide airline news. At the current price, the trailing twelve months earnings per share are in negative territory, at about minus USD 1.57 per share, which helps explain why the stock presently shows no meaningful price-to-earnings ratio.
Position within airline sector and investor takeaways
In a cross-airline comparison of leading passenger carriers compiled by MarketBeat, Alaska Air Group sits in the Industrials sector and Passenger Transport industry alongside larger peers that often carry higher leverage and broader international exposure. A separate overview of airline stocks from Stake notes that over the prior twelve-month period Alaska Air Group’s share price fell from about USD 63.69 to USD 42.04, a decline of 34.0 percent, with a trading range between USD 63.86 and USD 34.19. Taken together with the current quote near USD 40, this history shows how the stock has already repriced significantly from its earlier highs, but remains above the lowest levels seen during bouts of sector stress.
The same Stake overview points out that Alaska Air Group’s market capitalization currently stands around USD 4.69 billion, with its share price at roughly USD 42.04 in the snapshot used, reinforcing the mid-cap profile and cyclical character of the stock. For investors weighing exposure to airline names, this mix of a double-digit negative return over the past year, a still-meaningful consensus upside of about 52.2 percent, and a recent downward adjustment in an Outperform-rated price target from Raymond James frames Alaska Air Group as a potential recovery candidate where earnings normalization, fuel costs and demand resilience will be decisive.
Alaska Air Group stock price as of last close
As of the last completed trading day, September 8, 2026, Alaska Air Group stock closed at USD 40.74 on the New York Stock Exchange, with a session decline of 3.09 percent and an after-hours indication of USD 41.25. At that level, the shares remain well below the 52-week high of USD 65.88 yet above the 52-week low of USD 33.03, underscoring that the stock trades in the lower half of its recent range while analysts’ average target of USD 61.88 still sits materially higher than the market quotation.
Alaska Air Group stock at a glance
- Company: Alaska Air Group, Inc.
- ISIN: US0116591092
- Ticker: ALK
- Trading venue: NYSE
- Price (as of September 8, 2026, 4:00): 40.74 USD
- Market capitalization: 4.53 billion USD (as of September 8, 2026)
- Sector / Industry: Industrials / Passenger Transport
- Index membership: S&P 500
