CHICAGO, Jan 12 Reuters Delta Air Lines on Friday scaled down its profit outlook for the current year, citing supply chain issues and macroeconomic uncertainties, sending its shares down about 6 in premarket trading.

The outlook cut weighed on other airline stocks, with United Airlines and American Airlines down about 5 before the bell. Southwest Airlines also fell 3.2.

Strong holiday demand, however, helped Delta beat Wall Street estimates for fourthquarter earnings.

The Atlantabased carrier now expects an adjusted pershare profit of 6 to 7 this year, compared with its previous target of more than 7 outlined at an investor day in December 2022.

The 2024 estimate compares with analysts39; expectations of 6.50, according to LSEG data.

In an interview, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the company still had an internal goal of producing earnings of more than 7 a share, but it was offering an outlook to the market that it had a good deal of confidence in.

With the amount of uncertainty that continues to exist within the supply chain, in the maintenance arena, within the economic outlook, we wanted to be prudent, Bastian told Reuters. But that doesn39;t mean we can39;t outproduce it.

For the first quarter, the company forecast an adjusted profit of 0.25 to 0.50 per share, compared with market estimates of 0.38 a share.

All else equal, we would view any Delta Air stock price dips as enhanced buying opportunities in the shares, Citi analyst Stephen Trent said in a note….