What Happened?
Shares of aircraft leasing company FTAI Aviation (NASDAQ: FTAI) jumped 4% in the morning session after the stock's positive momentum continued as Morgan Stanley significantly raised its price target on the stock, citing a strong growth trajectory and a favorable position in the current aerospace market.
The investment bank boosted its price target to $175 from $138 while maintaining an "Overweight" rating. Analysts pointed to the company's strategic shift toward an asset-light model, which is expected to free up cash for its higher-margin aerospace products segment and improve its balance sheet. Morgan Stanley projects revenue and EBITDA compound annual growth rates of approximately 28% from 2024 to 2026, noting FTAI is positioned to benefit from the current aerospace industry upcycle. This bullish sentiment was echoed by other firms, including JMP Securities and Jefferies, which also recently raised their price targets following FTAI's strong second-quarter 2025 earnings that significantly beat expectations.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
FTAI Aviation’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 50 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 10 days ago when the stock gained 3% on the news that the stock continued its upward trend on positive momentum following a recent analyst upgrade that was prompted by strong second-quarter financial results. The positive sentiment follows a significant price target increase from JMP Securities, which raised its target on the stock to $205 from $180. Analysts at the firm called the company's second-quarter results an "inflection point," highlighting impressive momentum in its Aerospace Products business, a strong cash position, and an improved outlook for returning capital to shareholders. The upgrade was prompted by FTAI's stellar Q2 performance, where the company reported earnings of $1.57 per share, beating analyst forecasts of $1.26, on revenues that grew 52% year-over-year.
FTAI Aviation is up 2.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $147.77 per share, it is still trading 15.5% below its 52-week high of $174.96 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of FTAI Aviation’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $8,907.
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