Futures Little Changed as Oil Resumes Ascent After One-Day Pause; Two-Day Fed Policy Meeting Kicks Off

Delta Stock Surges on Raised Q1 Revenue Outlook

FROM 37 minutes ago

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is shaking off skyrocketing jet fuel prices.

The Atlanta-based carrier raised its current-quarter revenue outlook and kept its profit projection intact despite the current environment, and shares jumped 4.5% before the bell.

Delta now sees high-single-digit first-quarter revenue growth, above the previous guidance of 5% to 7% year-over-year, on “demand momentum,” according to a presentation ahead of its participation at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference Tuesday morning.

Delta said it was “well positioned to navigate the current environment,” and that it was “maintaining capacity flexibility if elevated fuel prices persist.”

Chief executive Ed Bastian told CNBC before the conference that “jet fuel prices have almost doubled just since the start of the quarter, and that’s a fairly significant hit for us, about $400 million in the quarter. That said, the demand strength has been really, really great. We’re looking at somewhere around 3 points of higher revenue growth above what we guided for originally in the quarter.”

Bastian added that “the higher revenue is offsetting the cost of not just the fuel, but we’ve also had a pretty tough winter season in terms of storms. We lost about 2 points of capacity there as well, so you put that all together, we’re expecting to come in within the original guidance of 50 to 90 cents EPS, which is still healthy growth on top of that over the prior year.”

Delta shares began the day down 12% this year.

The Federal Reserve’s Two-Day Policy Meeting Starts Today. Here’s What You Need to Know

FROM 1 hr 25 min ago

The Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates unchanged this week, but analysts will watch for signs that the Iran war will push the Fed to the sidelines for months to come.

It’s a scenario that markets increasingly expect, with the majority of traders still believing the Fed will cut rates, but not until October or December. Some even anticipate the war will cause the Fed to leave its rate untouched all year.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, during his press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, may not give markets firm guidance. Instead, analysts expect him to adopt a wait-and-see tone, as the Fed monitors whether oil market disruptions will be temporary or longer-lasting.

Read the full article here.

–Polo Rocha