Travel Stocks 2026: What the Offseason Boom Tells Us About the Consumer Economy

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is Invest Talk from KPP Financial, helping investors make sense of the markets one day at a time. Here's your host, Justin Klein.

**Justin Klein** (0:16)
Good afternoon, fellow investors, and welcome back to our final edition of Invest Talk for the Week. It is Friday, July 10th, 2026, the first full week of Q3, the second half of the year.
A lot to unpack, as usual. Big market moves to close out the week. A lot of headlines to close out the week. And our job here is to help you see through the headlines and what really matters to you, your portfolio, the broader economy, different sectors, asset classes, et cetera. That's what today and every day on Invest Talk is really about.
And then it's about answering your finance and investment questions. That's the biggest part of what we do here. So I'm Justin Klein and my job is to use this next 45 minutes to an hour to help you take that next step in your investment journey. They're always small, but they add up.
Just like anything in life. You don't go out and run a mile and then suddenly you're ready for a marathon. Now you build up and you get your body in shape and build up to what your body can handle. Then you go out and tackle the big boy. And that's what this is about. And when you're in the investment world, you don't just tackle it one time. It's you go back to the well over and over again and you have to keep your mind sharp, keep your data sharp, keep your emotions in check.
So that's what this hour is designed to help you do. Now, quick reminder, in case you missed it, our latest Wealth webinar, Beyond the Yield, How to Invest for Your Income Needs, is posted over on YouTube channel. So make sure you go check that out. It's free to watch. And in just a bit, we'll talk about today's Mark Performance. And then we're in the show topics. But first, let's answer this caller question now.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:20)
Hey guys, I was trying to call you about AeroVironment, Inc. That's ticker symbol A-V-A-V.
I'm seeking out your analysis on the stock.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:30)
I did buy it.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:31)
Let me know how you think this looks like.
I wanna hold it five to 10 years. But I'm curious if you could get me your analysis. Listen to your answer on the show.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:42)
Thanks. Have a good day. Bye.

**Justin Klein** (2:44)
I look at AeroEnvironment, a defense technology company delivering integrated capabilities across the air, land, sea, space and cyber. So a business that you think with what everything has been going on, they would be in a catbird seat, being an integral part of the defense infrastructure that is leaning more and more towards autonomous vehicles, space-based platforms, cyber security, all that. This is where they sit.
If you go look at their earnings, you'd say things are looking good. But the issue is that earnings growth is slowing. It was 137 percent in 2023, up to $2.99, then $3.28 and $24, then $3.31 last year. This year though, earnings are expected to fall 2 percent to $3.25. Then you look at the stock price, it's $144. Now next year, earnings are expected to bounce back to an all-time high of $446. However, those estimates continue to come down as well as this year's. And that's why the stock is in a downtrend. Relative strength is seven. Now one good thing about the chart, I would say, is that last week, it had a big, massive reversal on volume.
I mean, that's a good thing. But it needs to hold the lows from last week, which so far, the good news of this week's closed, it held this week.
So there's some, there's some signals here on the chart that this could be the bottom. Now, it's just a very short term, couple of weeks, really what last week.
But if it breaks below last week's low, then that becomes a big problem. Then it's probably taking another stair step lower. What I do like about it, even though it is a bit expensive from a earnings perspective, and a cash flow perspective is negative. I don't love that. It does have a good balance sheet, but it has a good balance sheet, mainly because it is just issuing more and more shares. But if you're looking to invest just in the theme and the valuation, you're okay paying a pretty large premium, which you are here, then this would probably be a time to take a shot because this is now returned, if I zoom out to a weekly chart. It zoomed out to an area where it broke out back in 2025, early 2025 So you can see how volatile it's been. Just a little over a year, 15 months, it's gone from a low around $100 per share, then a high recently 400