Lufthansa Board Member's €153,759 Share Purchase Caps a Week of Deals and Upgrades

A supervisory board member's six-figure share purchase rounded off an eventful week for Lufthansa, during which the German airline group signed a landmark deal in Portugal, sharpened its full-year profit target and drew a more constructive stance from Barclays.

Dr. Astrid Stange, a member of Lufthansa's supervisory board, bought shares in the company worth a total of EUR 153,759 on Thursday, according to a mandatory disclosure. The purchase came a day before the stock climbed 3.9%, helped along by the Barclays upgrade and a brighter industry assessment.

Barclays Lifts Rating and Target

Barclays raised its recommendation on Lufthansa from "Underweight" to "Equal Weight" on Friday and lifted its price target to EUR 8.40 from EUR 7.50. According to a dpa-AFX report, the broker pointed to falling fuel costs and expectations of more resilient demand across European aviation.

Bernstein Research took a narrower step the same day, keeping its "Market-Perform" rating while nudging its target up to EUR 9.50 from EUR 9.00. So while Barclays moved on both rating and target, Bernstein confined its revision to the price objective.

TAP Stake Signed, Subject to Approvals

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Lufthansa Group and the Portuguese government signed a contract covering the group's entry into TAP Air Portugal. Under the terms, Lufthansa would initially acquire 44.9% for EUR 1.02 billion, with completion conditional on regulatory clearances.

Should Lufthansa exercise options to take further shares, its holding could reach as much as 49.9%. Including a so-called ticking fee, the total purchase price could climb to as much as EUR 1.2 billion, with both the potential stake size and the maximum price forming part of the agreed conditions.

Third-Quarter Figures Beat Fuel Drag

Lufthansa also published third-quarter 2026 results on Tuesday. Revenue rose 9% year on year to EUR 12.2 billion, while adjusted operating profit — reported by the group as Adjusted EBIT — advanced 6% to EUR 1.4 billion.

Fuel costs, however, rose by EUR 543 million compared with the prior-year figure. Strong demand and cost discipline more than offset that additional burden, according to the company. The group also firmed up its Adjusted EBIT guidance for 2026 to a range of EUR 1.7 billion to EUR 2.0 billion.

SWISS to Deploy A350 to Mumbai

Separately, Lufthansa Group said SWISS will begin flying Airbus A350 aircraft on the Zurich–Mumbai route from 15 December 2026.