Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. jumped 1.8% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the air carrier raised its first-quarter revenue outlook, citing improvements seen in March after omicron variant-related softness in January and February. The company now expects first-quarter revenue to be down 8% to 10% from the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, compared with previous guidance of down 10% to 15%. Capacity is now expected to be down 9% to down 10% from 2019 versus a previous estimate of down ~9%. Load factor is expected to be 75% to 80%, surrounding the FactSet consensus of 78.8%. Economic fuel costs per gallon are expected to be $2.25 to $2.35, with the expected fuel hedging cash settlement gains per gallon raised to 52 cents from 35 cents. “The improvement in the Company’s first quarter 2022 operating revenue guidance is primarily attributable to stronger than anticipated bookings and passenger yields, as well as a strong performance from the Company’s loyalty program,” Southwest said in a statement. The stock has slipped 6.4% year to date through Monday, while the U.S. Global Jets ETF has dropped 13.2% and the S&P 500 has lost 12.4%.
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