What Stocks Could Get Hit By The Bomb Cyclone? - Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL)

Winter Storm Elliott is sweeping across the U.S. just in time to potentially create disruptions for the holiday weekend.

While the potential bomb cyclone may disrupt critical holiday sales for some companies, it could also be a Christmas gift for winter weather stocks.

What Happened? Winter Storm Elliott is already producing snow, high winds and blizzard conditions in parts of the U.S. The potential bomb cyclone is expected to bring high winds and freezing conditions to the Plains, Midwest, Great Lakes, East and South over the next several days.

A bomb cyclone is a severe winter storm that experiences a drop in central barometric pressure of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours.

Why It's Important: As of Wednesday morning, the storm was bringing snowfall to the Northern Rockies and has already produced winter weather warnings and advisories for cities such as Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Omaha and St. Louis.

On Wednesday morning, temperatures had already dropped to -14 F in Billings, Montana; -13 F in Fargo, North Dakota; and -4 F in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Temperatures in Chicago are expected to drop as low as -4 F on Thursday while temps in New York City are forecast to fall as low as 12 F on Friday. Even as far south as Houston, temperatures are expected to drop as low as 18 F Thursday as the storm moves through.

How To Play It: This weekend is one of the biggest travel weekends of the year, but Elliott could be a major headache for holiday travelers. If the storm causes major travel disruptions, shares of airline stocks like Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) and Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) could take a hit.

The winter storm could also discourage last-minute in-person holiday shopping, negatively impacting retailers' critical holiday quarter sales. Department store stocks such as Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) and Dillard's Inc (NYSE:DDS) may take a hit.

At the same time, some stocks may experience some positive volatility associated with the storm as well. Residential generator stock Generac Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GNRC) could see a sales bump from the storm. Pioneer Power Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPSI) also sells generators, transfer switches and uninterruptable power supplies.

Ski resort operator Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) could also see a jump in profits from a cold, snowy winter. In addition, Douglas Dynamics Inc (NYSE:PLOW) produces a wide range of equipment used for snow removal.

Photo justoomm via Shutterstock

DALDelta Air Lines Inc

GNRCGenerac Holdings Inc

$218.63-%

LUVSouthwest Airlines Co

$48.70-%

MMacy's Inc

$26.20-0.04%