Author: Chris Katje

With millions of passengers travelling for the Thanksgiving holiday last week, a new U.S. airport screening record has been set by TSA. Here’s a look at the record.

• JETS is gathering positive momentum. Stay ahead of the curve here.

Airport Traffic Record

Along with watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and watching NFL games on Thanksgiving, travelling by plane to family gatherings was a Thanksgiving tradition celebrated in 2025.

TSA reported a record for passengers screened on Nov. 30, the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

“TSA screened about 3,133,924 individuals, the highest number ever in TSA’s history, bringing our Top 10 busiest days all above 3M,” TSA tweeted Monday.

The total passengers screened broke a record of 3,096,797 passengers previously set back in June. All 10 of the busiest airport traffic days in the U.S. have taken place in 2024 or 2025.

Here are the top 10 busiest travel days in the U.S. based on TSA screening data by passengers screened:

1. Nov. 30, 2025: 3,133,924
2. June 22, 2025: 3,096,797
3. Dec. 1, 2024: 3,088,836
4. July 20, 2025: 3,043,973
5. July 6, 2025: 3,041,954
6. July 27, 2025: 3,017,861
7. Oct. 10, 2025: 3,017,612
8. July 7, 2024: 3,013,622
9. May 23, 2025: 3,010,183
10. July 13, 2025: 3,007,773

Along with Sunday’s record, TSA also said more than 18 million passengers were screened from Tuesday, Nov. 25, through Monday, Dec. 1.

Last year saw the Sunday after Thanksgiving (Dec. 1, 2024) rank third all-time among days of screened passengers in the U.S.

Read Also: Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys Continue Thanksgiving Day NFL Tradition: Here’s Why These 2 Teams Always Play On Holiday

Good News for Airline Stocks?

While a record amount of passengers in airports probably meant headaches for those flying to and from family gatherings and the people working for airlines and airports, it could be good news at just the right time for airline stocks.

The new TSA record comes less than a month after the end of the government shutdown. The record 43-day government shutdown saw cuts to flights with shortages of traffic controllers and other employees, who were not getting paid during the federal work stoppage.

Leading U.S. airlines like American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL), United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) and Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) could all benefit from the record traffic and likely fully-booked flights.

The airline companies could see disruptions in revenue from the government shutdown and may still end up reporting weaker-than-expected results for the current quarter. The record traffic for Thanksgiving could help offset that weakness.

The major airlines will report quarterly earnings in January.

The US Global Jets ETF (NYSE:JETS), which counts the four airline stocks above as its largest holdings, could benefit from strong earnings results from the companies and positive news for the sector.

The ETF closed up 1.71% to $26.65 on Tuesday, nearing a 52-week high set back in January.

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Photo: Shutterstock

Restaurant giant McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) could show the importance of value meals and new product launches when the company announces third-quarter financial results on Wednesday before market open.

• See what the experts say about MCD stock here.

Here are the earnings estimates, analyst ratings and key items to watch ahead of the quarterly results.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect McDonald’s to report third-quarter revenue of $7.09 billion, up from $6.87 billion in last year’s third quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in six of the last 10 quarters, including the most recently reported second quarter.

Analysts expect McDonald’s to report third-quarter earnings per share of $3.33, up from $3.23 in last year’s third quarter.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in two straight quarters and in eight of the past 10 quarters overall.

Read Also: Top Stocks With Earnings This Week: Joby, IonQ, AMD and More

What Analysts Are Saying: Analysts have been mostly lowering their price targets on McDonald’s stock ahead of the quarterly results.

Here are recent analyst ratings on McDonald’s and their price targets:

• Mizuho: Initiated with Neutral rating, with price target of $300
• BTIG: Maintained Neutral rating, with no price target
• Barclays: Maintained Overweight rating, raised price target from $360 to $362
• Citigroup: Maintained Buy rating, lowered price target from $381 to $375
• Wells Fargo: Maintained Overweight rating, lowered price target from $350 to $340

Key Items to Watch: A report from Placer.ai shows McDonald’s having fewer visits during the third quarter, which could impact the company’s revenue and earnings per share.

The report says McDonald’s suffered a 3.5% year-over-year decline in visits in the third quarter, with same store visits down 4% year-over-year in the quarter.

After seeing better quick service restaurant (QSR) visitor figures in the second quarter, the report shows visits declined 1.8% in July, 4.4% in August and 4.4% in September on a year-over-year basis. That compares to QSR industry average declines of 1%, 2.9% and 3.1%, respectively, for July, August and September.

Placer.ai says the QSR category is seeing headwinds like inflation, shifts in consumer behavior, growth of weight-loss drugs and value-menu fatigue.

“McDonald’s has not been immune from these challenges,” the report said.

Recall that McDonald’s second quarter included strength from a collaboration with “A Minecraft Movie” with the Minecraft Meal highlighted as helping boost sales and traffic in April. The company reported U.S. comparable sales were up 2.5% year-over-year in the second quarter, which was good news after U.S. comp sales were down 3.6% year-over-year in the first quarter.

The good news for McDonald’s and its investors could be a hopeful return to growth in the fourth quarter, potentially helped by the return of extra value meals in September and the return of Monopoly for the first time since 2014.

More than 30 menu items are eligible for Monopoly game pieces during the promotion, which began on Oct. 6. The game features digital game pieces and physical game pieces with a focus on getting users to sign up for the loyalty app.

“Our fans have been clamoring for the return of MONOPOLY at McDonald’s, and we’re thrilled to bring it back with a modern, digital spin,” McDonald’s USA Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer Alyssa Buetikofer said. “The game is a core memory for so many customers, and we’re excited that those memories can now be shared across generations.”

McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski highlighted just how important the loyalty program is for future sales growth during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

“Roughly a quarter of our business in the U.S. is on our loyalty program,” Kempczinski said, as reported by CNN.

The McDonald’s CEO quantified the importance by saying non-loyalty U.S. customers visit McDonald’s 10.5 times a year on average. Rewards members average 26 visits to McDonald’s restaurants per year, more than double non-loyalty members, as reported by Customer Experience.

“Getting more and more consumers to be in our loyalty program — that’s how we’re going to drive this business, because it’s going to be frequency-led growth.”  

The company had around 185 million global loyalty members at the end of the second quarter, with a goal to have 250 million active loyalty members by the end of 2027.

While the third-quarter results may not be great for McDonald’s, a hope could be that value meals and Monopoly could factor into strong fourth-quarter guidance and the Monopoly game could grow the loyalty base to help boost return visits going forward.

MCD Price Action: McDonald’s stock closed down 0.66% to $296.37 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $276.53 to $326.32. McDonald’s shares are up 2.24% year-to-date in 2025.

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