Monday morning trivia
6:00 AM Mon, Jun 30, 2008
Terry Maxon -- Dallas Morning News
We have a story this morning about falling stock prices and market capitalizations of the U.S. airlines. So let's focus this week's question on the market values of airlines.
In fact, we'll make it a three-part question.
1. Of the 10 largest airlines, which airline has the smallest market capitalization?
2. Of the 10 largest airlines, which airline lost the most value in absolute dollars in the past 12 months?
3. Of the 10 largest airlines, which airline lost the most value on a percentage basis in the past 12 months?
For those unfamiliar with the term, a company's market capitalization is its share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding.
Answers below.
(Dollar figures in millions)
1. AirTran Holdings, worth $195 million as of close of trading Friday.
Airline Market value
AirTran $195
US Airways $226
Alaska $603
UAL $699
JetBlue $816
Continental $1,040
AMR $1,335
Northwest $1,539
Delta $1,613
Southwest $9,754
2. AMR, parent of American Airlines, saw its market value decline by more than $5 billion over the past 12 months.
Airline Change
AMR -$5,073
UAL -$3,809
Delta -$3,061
Northwest -$2,803
US Airways -$2,490
Continental -$2,208
Southwest -$1,328
JetBlue -$1,180
AirTran -$810
Alaska -$488
3. The market value of US Airways declined nearly 92 percent over the past 12 months, the most of the 10.
US Airways -91.7%
UAL -84.5%
AirTran -80.6%
AMR -79.2%
Continental -68.0%
Delta -65.5%
Northwest -64.6%
JetBlue -59.1%
Alaska -44.7%
Southwest -12.0%
Market value was as of close of trading on Friday, June 27, 2008. Shares outstanding were as of the carriers' last 10-Q. Amounts do not include 11 million shares of Continental Airlines' shares being issued last week.