Wheels Up (UP) Powers 11.7% on Fleet Expansion

We recently published 10 Stocks Lighting Up Market Ahead of Christmas. Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) is one of the best performers on Wednesday.

Wheels Up rallied for a second day on Wednesday, soaring 11.70 percent to close at $0.7036 apiece as investors took path from the ongoing fleet expansion and modernization program.

In a statement on the same day, Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) said that the company would significantly expand its fleet in 2026 as part of its modernization strategy.

In line with the program, Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) entered into a $105 million sale-leaseback agreement with an institutional capital provider, involving the sale of three of its Challenger 300s and seven Phenom 300s, and leasing them back on a long-term basis.

Under the agreement, Wheels Up Experience Inc. (NYSE:UP) would continue to operate the aircraft, ensuring uninterrupted access for members and customers. The aircraft will be painted, branded, refurbished, and installed with HDX satellite Wi-Fi.

Upon closing, $65 million of the total proceeds will be used to repay its outstanding debt under the revolving equipment notes facility, while the remaining and provide approximately $40 million of cash net proceeds to the company’s balance sheet.

“The actions we are announcing today reflect disciplined, intentional execution of our transformation strategy,” said Chief Executive Officer George Mattson.

Wheels Up (UP) Powers 11.7% on Fleet Expansion

”The sale-leaseback agreement further validates our strategy via the partnership of a sophisticated financial institution, balances our mix of owned and leased aircraft, and supports recent and future sustainable growth by providing additional capacity to continue executing our fleet plan in 2026,” he added.

While we acknowledge the potential of UP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an extremely cheap AI stock that is also a major beneficiary of Trump tariffs and onshoring, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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While we acknowledge the risk and potential of UP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than UP and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.