How to Buy Wizz Air Shares UK

Wizz Air Holdings PLC is a Hungarian multinational low-cost airline with a market cap of more than £3 billion. It’s among the biggest names in budget aviation, and it’s traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

In this guide, I’ll explain how to buy Wizz Air shares in the UK using retail investor accounts or take long and short positions using trading platforms.

Also consider: My best stocks and shares to buy now

Wizz Air (WIZZ) share price

Below you can see Wizz Air share price live, subject to stock exchange times and data update frequency.

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6 Simple Steps to Buying Wizz Air (WIZZ) shares

There are six steps you need to follow if you want to buy or sell Wizz Air stock. Each step is as important as the next, so make sure you take note of what to do at each stage of your journey with this airline company.

1. Choose an investment platform/trading platform

Choosing the right platform is crucial. However, before you get started, you need to ask yourself one question: do I want to invest or trade? Investing is the process of purchasing the underlying asset (i.e., stock), and owning stock means you have a stake in the company and its financial fortunes.

If things are going well, meaning its market capitalization is increasing and shares are bullish, your stock will go up in value. If things aren’t going so well, the value of your stock will decrease, which means you’re losing money if you sell.

You don’t own the underlying asset as a trader. Essentially, you’re speculating on price movements using financial products such as contracts for difference (CFDs). Using CFDs allows you to take a long position (speculate on prices going up) or a short position (speculate if a price goes down).

In general, short positions are higher-risk propositions because the downside (i.e., the amount you can lose) is potentially unlimited. You can read more about CFDs and long and short positions.

This is often seen as a more flexible way to have an interest in companies. However, when you trade, you don’t have a stake in the company. If it pays a dividend (i.e., a share of its profits to shareholders), you miss out.

How to find your ideal platform

I suggest looking at my guides to investing and trading to determine which one is more suitable. Once you’ve made a decision, you can choose an appropriate platform.

My reviews give you the lowdown on investment and trading apps. However, some of the things you need to consider across all brokerages are:

• The instruments you can invest in/trade i.e. is there a full range of stocks available?
• The cost per transaction i.e. how much you pay in fees to invest/open trades (with trading the fees are typically contained within the spread. Spread is the difference between the buy and sell price). Some brokerages offer commission-free trading, so look out for that.
• Account fees, such as deposit/withdrawal fees, monthly usage fees, and inactivity fees.
• Minimum account balance (some account types require you to have a minimum amount of money in your account to cover potential losses on a trading position – this isn’t necessary if you invest because a stock that goes to zero will simply liquidate your position).
• Research education tools so that you can make informed decisions.

Assuming a platform meets your needs in these areas, you can use the links within my reviews to open a secure registration page and move on to the next step.

2. Open an account

Opening an account requires an internet connection, some personal details, and some financial information. Every investment and trading platform I recommend is fully licenced and regulated. This means it has to comply with strict financial laws regarding who can and can’t open an account.

Therefore, you need to ensure you’re an eligible customer and that you enter your details correctly because you’ll be required to verify them before you make a deposit.

3. Enter payment details

You need cash in your account to buy and sell Wizz Air shares. All licenced brokers are required to hold your funds in ring-fenced accounts, and you’ll be insured up to a certain amount. The main ways to make deposits are with debit cards (Visa and MasterCard) and Apple Pay or Google Pay.

If you’re buying US stock, you’ll need to complete a W-8 BEN. This is a tax form that non-US residents have to fill out when they trade US-listed stocks. Wizz Air Holdings Plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange, so you don’t have to complete a W-8 BEN to buy or sell Wizz Air shares.

4. Search for the stock code

Ok, so you know whether you’re going to invest in Wizz Air shares or trade them. You’ve picked your platform, and there’s money in your account. The next step in the process is to search for your security. In this instance, the security is Wizz Air stock. The quickest way to do this is by searching for the ticker. This airline is listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker WIZZ.

5. Research Wizz Air shares

Investing and trading carry a certain amount of risk. So, you shouldn’t open any position without understanding what you’re getting into from a general perspective and in terms of specifics. Investing and trading aren’t free of risk because the value of your holdings can increase or decrease. You can’t change that.

What you can do, however, is try to limit your risk as much as possible. The best way to do this is through research. Look specifically at security and the risk it poses. In the case of Wizz Air, you can look at its recent income statements and earnings reports. You can look at the current trading prices and compare them to historical highs and lows.

You can read what experts have to say about Wizz Air Holdings Plc and stocks within the same sector (i.e., aviation). Finally, you can use analytical tools within your chosen platform for technical analysis on price charts.

6. Open a position on Wizz Air shares

When you’re sure you want to buy or trade shares in Wizz Air, open your position by inputting your stake set. For trades, there are additional parameters you can set, including take-profit and stop-loss limits. You should look through my trading guides to learn more about these features before you add Wizz Air to your portfolio.

How much does it cost to buy Wizz Air shares?

I’ve looked at the share price for Wizz Air, and the one-year trend was bullish. The Wizz Air share price in May 2022 peaked at 3,142.00 GBX. It did fall in value after that, dropping as low as 1,367.00 GBX in October 2022.

However, when dealing with aviation companies, you have to be prepared for seasonal swings. It’s natural for shares to rise and fall at certain times of the year based on how people around the world travel. Of course, the data I reviewed can’t just be viewed through a travel lens.

Its share price also fluctuates based on the company’s financials. If earnings after tax are up, it’s likely that the share price will be bullish. If earnings after tax are down, the price is likely to be bearish. Similarly, if Wizz Air is in the news because there’s a lot of positive hype about a new CEO, that’s probably going to be good for its value.

So, when you look at share price data, make sure you take into account all the potential factors that could be affecting the company’s value. Finally, Wizz Air has a market capitalisation (market cap) of £3.11 billion (in 2023). That’s down from a market cap of more than £7 billion in 2023.

Wizz Air share price forecasts and income

Other information I found during my research was that the analysts from Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions issued an average consensus rating of “moderate buy” within the last year (2022 to 2023).

Something else to consider when you’re placing your own value on Wizz Air is its earnings. I looked through its income data and found that revenue in 2022 was £1.6 billion, which was more than the £739 million Wizz Air made in 2021. However, it’s lower than its £2.7 billion income in 2020.

Additionally, the company’s profit before tax in 2022 was -£641 million. A company that doesn’t make a profit isn’t necessarily one to avoid. When assets are bought and sold, a company’s profit can take a hit, even if revenue is strong. You shouldn’t dismiss a company because it doesn’t make a profit for a year or two.

Finally, when assessing a company’s value, we can look at its price-to-earnings ratio (P/E ratio). I did some research and found the price-to-earnings ratio for Wizz Air from 2015 to 2022. The results are mixed. The P/E ratio in 2015 was 1.05 and jumped to 5.51 in 2021.

It peaked at 8.01 in 2018 and averaged 6.5 until 2021, when it fell into the negative. The -7.68 P/E ratio in 2021 was cut to -4.95 in 2022, which could suggest the company’s financials are improving after a tough two years.

*Note: All price and financial data presented is for indicative purposes only. Past performance isn’t a guarantee of future results.

Does Wizz Air pay dividends?

No, Wizz Air Holdings Plc doesn’t pay dividends on investments. Some publicly-listed companies do, such as Direct Line. However, if you buy shares in Wizz Air, you won’t receive a dividend.

What’s the best way to buy or invest in Wizz Air shares?

Going back to a point I mentioned earlier, there are two main ways to speculate on shares in Wizz Air:

1. Invest

Any company listed on the stock market sells stock, i.e., shares. Stock represents a portion of a company that’s available to and, therefore, owned by investors. So, when you buy stock, you’re buying a piece of the company. This is like buying other financial securities, such as commodities and bonds.

Money raised through the sale of stock is used to fund the business in the early stages of its life. It can also be used to raise capital at other points. The stock sold in a company contributes to its value, and the term people use to describe this is outstanding shares.

You can use shares outstanding as a performance marker. Indeed, if a company has generated a lot of capital by selling stock, it might be a valuable company. Investments (i.e., owning stock) give you a stake in the company, which, in this case, is Wizz Air Holdings Plc.

When its value increases and the stock price goes up, so does the value of your investments. When the value decreases, so does the value of your stock. That’s something you need to consider. If you want a direct stake in the company, you should become a shareholder.

*It’s worth noting that buying or selling certain stocks (usually over a certain amount) incurs a stamp duty tax as well as capital gains tax. You can offset certain taxes by making investments via a stocks and shares ISA.

2. Trade

Trading doesn’t give you a direct stake in a company. You don’t own the shares when you trade. This makes it possible for you to take either side of the proverbial coin. Specifically, you can speculate on the value of Wizz Air shares increasing (taking a long position). Alternatively, you can speculate on the share price decreasing by taking a short position.

Some people prefer this strategy because it allows you to move in line with the ebb and flow of share prices. What’s more, trading allows you to employ a strategy known as hedging. This is where you take a counterposition to offset a period of change.

For example, let’s say you hold a long position but feel like the market is about to swing to a bearish position in the short term. You don’t want to exit your position because you believe the long-term value of Wizz Air is going to increase. What you can do in this situation is open a short position.

This allows you to capitalise on the bearish trend, which will offset losses accrued from your long position. Hedging isn’t for everyone, and it’s probably not best to try it if this is your first trade. However, it is possible thanks to the flexibility of trading.

How to Buy Wizz Air shares FAQs