By Dean Seal

Shares of Frontier Airlines' parent company broke their 2026 hot streak after the carrier laid out an ambitious strategy to add capacity later this year.

The ultralow-cost airline said it is looking to expand the number of seats it will fly by about 10%, mostly in the back half of the year, as its struggling rival Spirit Airlines pares back its own supply.

The scope of Frontier's growth plan drew scrutiny from analysts on its Wednesday earnings call and was recently cited by Deutsche Bank analysts who downgraded their rating on the stock.

Shares closed down 7.9% at $5.49. The stock had risen more than 38% year-to-date at the height of a rally late last week; that gain retreated to about 17% on Wednesday.

Management said on Frontier's earnings call that about half of the planned growth would come from restoring capacity in existing markets on off-peak days, while the other half would come from entering new markets.

When pressed on the 10% target, Jimmy Dempsey, Frontier's recently appointed chief executive who previously served as president and finance chief before that, said the rate would help the airline jump on opportunities presented by capacity cuts by Spirit and Southwest Airlines.

"It provides an opportunity for us to drive growth into new markets where we're offering value -- that is clearly a differentiator with the rest of the industry, given our low cost base," Dempsey said.

Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank analysts cut their rating on Frontier to "hold" from "buy," citing the stock's recent rally. Analysts said Frontier's plan to accelerate growth this summer and beyond could pay off, but present risks while it struggles to generate returns that exceed its cost of capital.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 11, 2026 16:42 ET (21:42 GMT)

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