10 Firms Kick Off Shortened Trading Week With Impressive Gains

5. JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU)

JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ:JBLU) extended its winning streak for a fourth straight day, as investors bought up on rumors that it was being targeted for acquisition again—this time by Southwest Airlines.

The reports came after Chris Click—union leader of Southwest’s flight attendants—took to Facebook to run a poll of which airline Southwest was targeting. The poll included JBLU, as well as Spirit, Breeze, Frontier, and Allegiant.

The poll followed his selfie photo during an executive meeting—giving signals to investors that Southwest was about to announce a merger and acquisition deal.

JBLU has long maintained that the only way for it to grow is to expand through mergers and acquisitions. It was looking to break into the top four and join American, United, Delta, and Southwest as the biggest domestic airlines.

Following its merger attempt with Spirit Airlines, rumors also surfaced that Alaska Airlines, which recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines, was interested in acquiring JBLU.