With the summer season upon us, travel stocks are back in focus. For that reason, eToro built an equal-weight basket of BEACH stocks — which include companies in bookings, entertainment, airlines, cruises, and hotels. Over the past year, these stocks have outperformed global indices, observes Bret Kenwell, US investment analyst at eToro.
The US BEACH basket more than doubled the return of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) – 26% vs. 12%, respectively. The European BEACH basket returned four times more than the STOXX 600 – 26% vs. 6%.
However, it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing. More than half of the components in the US BEACH basket are now lower in 2025 (8 out of 15), with five of those components down double-digit percentages. Notably, US travel stocks have underperformed their European counterparts this year, with the US basket down 3% versus a 9% gain for the European basket.
One takeaway from the Q1 earnings season was some turbulence within the travel and leisure space. While affluent consumers continue to spend, others are alternating their discretionary spending. Further, international travel into the US has suffered due to global tensions over trade policy. Under those parameters, and given the volatility that markets experienced earlier this year, it’s no surprise that US travel stocks are underperforming the S&P 500, as well as their European peers.
Notes: eToro’s BEACH stock baskets are two equal-weight baskets constructed with 15 US-based and 15 Europe-based companies in the travel and hospitality sector. Data from Refinitv, taken on 6/10/2025.
