NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp. (JBLU) - Get Report are lower by 1.28% to $18.54 in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday, as airline stocks slump today due to the rally in oil prices. Fuel can be an airliner's largest expense.

Crude oil (WTI) is gaining by 4.39% to $51.37 per barrel and Brent crude is advancing by 4.53% to $59.04 per barrel this afternoon, according to the CNBC.com index.

Oil prices are surging today as concerns arise regarding the possibility that oil supplies could be disrupted as a result of the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia announced its plan to launch a series of airstrikes against the rebels on Wednesday which continued into Thursday.

Concerns regarding the possible disruptions come as oil demand is stronger than expected, which has caused traders to pay closer attention to geopolitical concerns, the New York Times reports.

"The importance of this is perhaps that the market has begun to react to geopolitical supply risks once again, a trend that has been absent in recent months," analysts at Energy Aspects wrote in a note to clients, the Times added.

So far the airstrikes have not disrupted major oil facilities of key Gulf producers, such as top oil exporter Saudi Arabia, but there are worries the conflict will spread. As a result of the fighting Yemen's small scale oil output has been disrupted for months, Reuters reports.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP as a Buy with a ratings score of A. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP (JBLU) a BUY. This is based on the convergence of positive investment measures, which should help this stock outperform the majority of stocks that we rate. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, revenue growth and attractive valuation levels. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows weak operating cash flow."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• Powered by its strong earnings growth of 85.71% and other important driving factors, this stock has surged by 122.89% over the past year, outperforming the rise in the S&P 500 Index during the same period. Regarding the stock's future course, although almost any stock can fall in a broad market decline, JBLU should continue to move higher despite the fact that it has already enjoyed a very nice gain in the past year.
• JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past two years. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, JETBLUE AIRWAYS CORP increased its bottom line by earning $1.19 versus $0.51 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($1.65 versus $1.19).
• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Airlines industry. The net income increased by 87.2% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $47.00 million to $88.00 million.
• JBLU's revenue growth trails the industry average of 22.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.9%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: JBLU Ratings Report