International Consolidated Airlines (LON: IAG), Rightmove (LON: RMV), and InterContinental Hotels Group (LON: IHG) are our three stocks to watch in the first of two consecutive shortened trading weeks…

Here’s Why:

Rightmove

Rightmove has had a somewhat positive start to the year, up 10%, but there are concerns about the UK housing market. 

For Rightmove, that isn’t too much of a problem given their business model (which is explained a little in this article here). 

However, if demand continues slips and visits to the Rightmove website decline (as Semrush data suggests above), then we could start to see an impact on its performance.

Elsewhere, Nationwide is set to release its house price data on Tuesday, while Berenberg said last week that they believe RMV is fairly valued.

IAG

IAG’s share price had a nice run higher at the end of last week, climbing above the 150p mark…

The company is set to release its first-quarter results on Friday, May 5.

Given the high expectations following other airline results so far, which have shown strong travel demand, we could see a continued climb until the release as long as general market sentiment remains positive.

According to Google Trends, searches for British Airways are up 25% in the past year, with 1.1 million searches in April. In January, there were 1.3 million searches, in February, 1.1 million, and in March, there were 1.2 million. 

Like many others, we see IAG reporting positive results.

IHG

IHG will also post its first-quarter results on Friday, May 5…

Robust travel demand has boosted the stock in 2023, up 13.7%, and much like IAG, the expectation is for a positive quarter. 

However, Google searches for Holiday Inn Express, which makes up a good portion of the company’s revenue, are down 5% in the last month, while they have remained somewhat flat in the first three months of the year. 

Even so, last week, competitor Premier Inn’s strong sales provided Whitbread with a significant profit uplift in the 52 weeks to March 2, 2023. 

In addition, Whitbread said it the strong trading momentum for Premier Inn has continued into Q1 FY24, providing a positive sign for IHG. 

By Sam Boughedda