What Happened?
Shares of aircraft leasing company FTAI Aviation (NASDAQ:FTAI) jumped 5.4% in the morning session after the stock continued to recover from the Muddy Waters report. FTAI added in its response to the report, "...believes that the recent report by Muddy Waters is an attempt to profit at the expense of FTAI's shareholders by manipulating the company's stock price. We strongly disagree with the assertions made by this notorious short-seller, several of which are sourced to a single, anonymous individual who is described only as 'a former FTAI executive' and whose agenda is not explained."
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $122.19, up 1.9% from previous close.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
FTAI Aviation’s shares are very volatile and have had 24 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 a day ago when the stock gained 8.2% after the company responded to Muddy Waters's short report. Multiple Wall Street analysts also defended the company and its business. Citi called yesterday's stock move a "knee jerk" response, adding "Looking through Muddy Waters' report, some of the key arguments seem a little hard to understand, in our view." Morgan Stanley maintains "the view that FTAI provides value added MRO work for customers within its Aerospace Products business." The firm maintains its Overweight rating and $168 price target.
FTAI Aviation is down 15.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $122.19 per share, it is trading 30.2% 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 $6,305.
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