After a rough day for tech stocks yesterday, markets are firmer overall on the final trading day of the week. Precious metals are up, crude oil is down modestly, and Treasuries and the dollar are flat.
In what may be one of the least surprising earnings warnings given the macro environment, Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) cut its profit outlook for the year. The firm blamed – you guessed it – higher jet fuel prices resulting from the US-Iran war.
DAL (Black), SPCX (Blue), VZ (Green) – 3-Mo. % Change
Source: TradingView
The airline operator said it will now earn $5.10 to $5.60 per share this year, down from its prior range of $6.50 to $7.50. Delta stock is up 17.5% year-to-date, though it dropped a couple of percentage points on the news today.
SpaceX (SPCX) is encroaching on territory long held by wireless service companies – and it’s wreaking havoc in the sector. SpaceX said it would buy a portfolio of low-band spectrum assets in the US. That will allow the Elon Musk-backed company to offer traditional cellular service along with its satellite-powered broadband product. Shares of wireless firms like Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T) sank on the news, while SpaceX stock popped 4%
Finally, Firmus Grid became the latest AI-levered company to pull its Initial Public Offering (IPO) amid questions about stretched valuations. The neocloud company planned to raise $5 billion in what would’ve been Australia’s largest IPO in almost three decades. But investors balked at its proposed $30 billion valuation. Backed by Nvidia Corp. (NVDA), Firmus has operational or in-development data centers in Australia, Malaysia, and Indonesia.