System1 races to top industrial gainer, while Matson sinks to pick #1 loser tag

While specialty business and aerospace/defense companies were the majority of top five industrial gainers for the week ending April 8, shipping and air services companies filled up the decliners’ list.

The SPDR S&P 500 Trust ETF (SPY) -1.18% was in the red after being in the green for three weeks in a row. YTD, the ETF is -5.77%. Less than half of the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 saw gains for the week. Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI) -2.52% was in the red for the second straight week. YTD, XLI is -5.87%.

The top five gainers in the industrial sector (stocks with a market cap of over $2B) all gained more than +4% each.

System1 (NYSE:SST) +50.97. The global marketing research and effectiveness company reported its Q4 earnings at the start of the week with revenue rising +48.4% Y/Y. However, the company’s stock rose the most on April 7 (+34.32%) a few days after it Q4 results. The company expects 2022 revenues to come in at $1B, with adjusted EBITDA of $174M. YTD, the stock is up +133.73%.

Spirit Airlines (SAVE) +19.21%. Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit rose on April 5 (+22.42%) after JetBlue (JBLU) offered $3.6B, or $33/share for the airline. Spirit said it plans to enter talks with JetBlue after deeming the offer could likely lead to a “superior proposal” over Frontier’s stock and cash deal.

The chart below shows 6-month total return performance of the top five gainers and SPY:

Aerospace and Defense companies AeroVironment (AVAV) +9.34% Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD) +4.70%, came in third and fourth, respectively. Arlington, Va.-based drone maker AeroVironment has risen +66.19% YTD. The Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy.

Aerojet rose +7.72% on April 7 after J.P. Morgan upgraded shares to Overweight from Neutral with a $49 price target, up from $40, citing an attractive valuation, a net cash position that leaves room to return capital to shareholders, and the potential to be acquired eventually.

ABM Industries (ABM) +4.36% wrapped up the top five gainers. The company completed the the acquisition of Ireland-based Momentum Support in an all cash transaction.

This week’s top five decliners among industrial stocks (market cap of over $2B) all lost more than -18% each. YTD all the stock are in the red.

Matson (NYSE:MATX) -24.65%. On April 4, the Baltic Exchange’s dry bulk sea freight index fell for the eighth straight session, with lower dayrates across all vessel segments. The Hawaii-based shipping company, which was the #1 industrial gainer over a month ago, lost the most on April 4 (-11.51%). The Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy with an Average Price Target of $118.

Atlas Air Worldwide (AAWW) -19.67%. Atlas fell throughout the week but the most on April 5 (-10.17%) after Wolfe Research analyst Scott Group downgraded the aviation operating services provider to Underperform from Peer Perform with a $73 price target. YTD, the stock is down -29.83%.

The chart below shows 6-month total return performance of the worst five decliners and XLI:

JetBlue Airways (JBLU) -19.59% was not lucky as its acquisition target Spirit Airlines and lost throughout the week. JetBlue’s pursuit of Spirit has raised some questions, Bank of America is concerned, that “1) how much would it cost to retrofit SAVE’s 175 plane fleet to JBLU product, 2) how do they present a case to regulators, 3) how do you bring the low fare SAVE customer into the JBLU network, and 4) plans to de-lever post the potential deal.”

ZIM Integrated Shipping (ZIM) -19.05% was back among the decliners after two weeks. However, the Israeli shipping company has gained +102.73% in the past one year. Wall Street Analysts’ Rating is Buy with an Average Price Target of $85.3.

Joby Aviation (JOBY) -18.55%. The air taxi company’s stock lost consistently throughout the week. YTD, the stock is down -27.81%. The company was in the top decliners two weeks in a row in January.