Morgan Stanley analyst Rajeev Lalwani downgraded the US Airlines sector to In-Line from Attractive due to increasing domestic supply, estimated at +4-5% for 2017/2018, margin deterioration stagnated pricing. Lalwani is forecasting flat RASM in 2017/2018 versus consensus of +1% and maintained said higher supply/lower fuel costs maintain his consensus earnings and restrain valuations. The analyst prefers high quality names Delta Air Lines (DAL), Southwest (LUV), and Alaska Air (ALK) and downgraded American Airlines (AAL) to Equal Weight given leverage and mix.

Bullish option flow detected in American Airlines with 26,130 calls trading, 3x expected, and implied vol increasing almost 2 points to 47.44%. 4/26 weekly 14.5 calls and Apr-24 14.5 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 8,400 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.37. Earnings are expected on April 25th.

Notable companies reporting before tomorrow's open, with earnings consensus, include Blackstone (BX), consensus 96c... Elevance Health (ELV), consensus $10.53... D.R. Horton (DHI), consensus $3.06... Genuine Parts (GPC), consensus $2.16... Snap-on (SNA), consensus $4.64... Keycorp (KEY), consensus 22c... Ally Financial (ALLY), consensus 33c... Alaska Air (ALK), consensus ($1.05).

After experiencing problems with a computer system upgrade, Alaska Airlines grounded its entire U.S. fleet Wednesday morning, NBC News' Rob Wile and Jay Blackman report. An issue arose "while performing an upgrade to the system that calculates our weight and balance," the carrier said in a statement. The FAA approved a ground stop for all Alaska and Horizon flights starting at approximately 10:50 a.m. ET. Reference Link