American (AAL) and Spirit (SAVE) stocks slid in early trading on Wednesday after the airlines cut their third quarter outlook amid rising fuel costs and recent drops in airline ticket prices.
American fell as much as 4% while Spirit dropped about 2% in the morning session.
"During the last few weeks, the Company has seen heightened promotional activity with steep discounting for travel booked for the second half of the third quarter through the pre-Thanksgiving travel period," Spirit Airlines' filing read.
Spirit now expects third quarter revenue of $1.24 billion to $1.25 billion versus prior estimates of $1.3 billion to $1.32 billion.
The budget airline also noted rising fuel prices, following similar recent warnings from United Airlines (UAL), Southwest (LUV), and Alaska Air (ALK).
American Airlines echoed the same concern in a separate filing.
"Fuel prices have increased considerably since the Company’s initial third-quarter guidance issued on July 20, 2023," the company said in a filing on Wednesday.
The company now expects its adjusted earnings to come in between 20 and 30 cents per share in the third quarter, versus prior expectation of 85 to 95 cents.
American’s adjusted operating margin guidance was lowered to a range of 4% to 5%, versus prior estimates of 8% to 10%.
The rise in fuel costs comes as the underlying commodity, oil, hit 2023 highs recently. The price of crude is up roughly 30% since late June amid output cuts and elevated global demand.
West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) hovered below $89 per barrel on Wednesday. Brent crude futures (BZ=F) sat around $92 per barrel.
The upswing in energy costs was a major factor in rising consumer prices during the month of August.
Ines Ferre is a senior business reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre.
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