: American Airlines stock falls after somewhat downbeat profit outlook

Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. AAL took a 1.8% hit in premarket trading Wednesday, after the air carrier provided a somewhat downbeat first-quarter profit outlook. Just before the profit outlook, the stock had traded up 0.2%. The company said it expects to adjusted earnings per share of 1 cent to 5 cents for the first quarter; while that is up from previous guidance of breakeven, it compared with the FactSet consensus of 5 cents. The company said first-quarter capacity of 65.0 million available seat miles (ASM) was up 9.2% from a year ago, which was above the midpoint of prior guidance of 8%-to-10% growth. Total revenue per ASM is expected to be up 25.5%, which is right in the middle of previous guidance of a 24%-to-27% rise. The company expects to end the first quarter with about $14.4 billion in total available liquidity. The company is projected to report results on or about April 20, according to FactSet. The stock has run up 12.6% year to date through Tuesday, while the U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS has climbed 8.9% and the S&P 500 SPX has gained 7.0%.

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