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Shares of Southwest Airlines (LUV) fell in premarket trading Thursday, a day after the carrier withdrew full-year earnings projections and said it was reducing capacity amid "macroeconomic uncertainty."
The Dallas-based airline reported an adjusted loss of $0.13 per share on revenue of $6.43 billion. Analysts polled by Visible Alpha expected an adjusted loss of $0.18 per share on revenue of $6.39 billion.
Although its Q1 results were stronger than anticipated, the carrier said due to "the current macroeconomic uncertainty, it is difficult to forecast given recent and short-lived booking trends," and that it is withdrawing its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) outlooks for this year and next.
The report comes amid great change for the airline. Last month, Southwest said it would introduce baggage fees and a basic economy ticket option amid pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management. It previously announced an end to its famed open seating policy last summer. Many changes are set to go into effect late next month.
"Looking ahead, we are confident in the initiatives we have outlined and the value we expect them to produce. We are committed to executing on these plans while controlling what we can control," CEO Bob Jordan said. "To that end, we are reducing capacity in the second half of this year. These incremental schedule adjustments are in progress, and based on current estimates, we now expect our full year 2025 capacity to be up roughly 1%, year-over-year."
Southwest Airlines shares, which entered the day down nearly 25% this year, declined 3% ahead of the opening bell.
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