Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. climbed 1.5% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the air carrier raised its total and unit revenue guidance for the second quarter, while the capacity outlook was lowered. Delta said it expects “strong” results for the quarter through June, and now expects revenue to be approximately 100% of what it was for the same period of pre-pandemic 2019, up from previous guidance of 93% to 97% of 2019 levels, while unit revenue is now expected to be seven-to-eight percentage points better than previously expected. The company lowered its estimate for available seat miles (ASM) versus 2019 to 82% to 83% from approximately 84%, while raising its outlook for cost per available seat mile (CASM) excluding fuel to be up 20% to 22% from up approximately 17%. Delta’s estimate for fuel price per gallon was boosted to $3.60 to $3.70 from $3.20 to $3.35. The stock has gained 6.7% year to date through Tuesday, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF has slipped 2.9% and the S&P 500 has shed 13.3%.
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