Shares of Alaska Air Group Inc. ALK fell 0.9% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the air carrier affirmed its first-quarter revenue growth and capacity guidance but raised its fuel cost outlook, leading to reduced margin guidance. The company also said it would take a one-time charge of $50 million to $55 million in the first quarter after entering a new agreement with the pilots union, in which the portion of pilot sick leave balances that are eligible for cash out was increased. For the first quarter, the company still expects capacity to be up 11% to 14% from the same period a year ago and revenue to rise 29% to 32%. Expectations for economic fuel cost per gallon were raised to $3.35 to $3.45 from $3.15 to $3.35, and the adjusted pre-tax margin guidance range was revised to down 6% to down 3% from down 4% to down 1%. Alaska Air’s update comes after United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL warned late Monday that it would report a surprise quarterly loss, given lower-than-expected demand and high fuel prices. Alaska Air’s stock has lost 3.6% over the past three months through Monday, while the U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS has tacked on 2.2% and the S&P 500 SPX has lost 3.5%.
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