>>> Delta Air Lines (-9%) leading airlines lower (JETS -5%) after preannouncing

Delta Air Lines (-9%) leading airlines lower (JETS -5%) after preannouncing fourth quarter results with soft unit revenue

* Delta raised Q4 EPS guidance to $1.25-1.30 from $1.10-1.30, pre-tax margin to 10-11% from 9-11%, but total unit revenue excluding refinery sales grew 3% versus +3-5% guidance.
* The company noted that overall demand remains healthy in business and leisure; while close-in yield momentum continues, the pace of improvement in late December was more modest than anticipated.
--> DAL -9% at 16-month low; AAL -10% at 2.5 year low; SAVE -7%, SKYW -6%, UAL -6%, ALK -6%, ALGT -6%, JBLU -5%, HA -4%, LUV -4