IAG share price is unfazed by the recent privacy class-action lawsuit that was filed this week. The shares ended the day at 162p, which is 12% above where it started the year at. It was also one of the most heavily-traded stocks according to data compiled by Hargreaves Lansdown.
What happened: More than 400,000 customers of British Airways that were affected by a major data breach in 2018. This week, 16,000 of them filed the biggest class action lawsuit in UK history against the troubled company.
The total value of the suit could be about $43 million, with each of the claimants getting about $2,700. This amount is in addition to the £20 million that the company was forced to pay in 2020. Also, if all victims of the breach signed-in, the total amount could soar to more than £800 million. The case will be heard next in February this year.
The contest: IAG share price is rising because the company was already expecting that the victims would file the lawsuit. In fact, in a statement last year, the company said that it was prepared to settle with the claimants.
However, these issues come at a time when IAG is facing its worst crisis on record due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its stock price has dropped by more than 64% in the past 12 months while its total market cap has dropped to more than £8 billion. With the coronavirus cases rising, its situation is still uncertain.
IAG share price forecast
In the four-hour chart, we see that the IAG share price formed a double top pattern at 178p between November and December. Since then, it dropped to a low of 123.95 on December 21 and then started crawling back.
It has jumped by more than 31% and is slightly above the 25-day and 15-day moving averages. In the near term, the stock could maintain the momentum and soar to 170p. However, a drop below the support at 153p will invalidate this trend.
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IAG shares chart
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