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Delta, American, and rival airlines boost Q1 sales outlooks on strong demand; costs rise, too

Airlines are soaring as they say revenue is coming in higher than expected in the first quarter. That’s likely in part because they’re raising ticket prices to account for higher fuel costs.

Max Knoblauch

3/17/26 8:55AM

Delta Air Lines shares rose Tuesday, following a boost to the company’s first-quarter sales guidance.

Speaking at a JPMorgan conference on Tuesday, Delta said it now expects Q1 revenue growth in the high single digits, up from its previous forecast of 5% to 7% growth. The company now expects Q1 revenue of up to $15.3 billion.

Rival carriers, also presenting at the conference, similarly boosted their revenue forecasts on stronger-than-expected travel demand in the quarter.

It’s worth noting that these are revisions to forecasts for the first quarter — of which roughly one-third is occurring during the war in the Middle East, which has driven oil costs sky-high and boosted ticket prices. According to a Deutsche Bank note from Monday, last week’s walk-up fares for Delta were up 20% year over year, while United’s were up 53.2%.

The airlines’ numbers likely also include a wave of people panic-buying tickets as they worry about prices rising in the future.

“Jet fuel, for those unaware, has almost doubled since the start of the year. So it’s not just the crude prices, but the cracks are also significantly higher than they were,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian, who added that there’s been a “$400 million fuel spike just in the month of March.”

American Airlines said it now expects Q1 year-over-year sales growth of more than 10%, up from its prior guidance of 7% to 10%. The carrier also said its adjusted earnings per share will come in at the lower end of guidance, citing rapidly rising jet fuel costs.

JetBlue upped its operating revenue per seat mile outlook to between 5% and 7% for the first quarter, up from its prior range of 0% to 4%. According to JetBlue, demand helped to “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.”

Budget carrier Frontier said revenue per seat mile is now expected to increase by the mid-teens, compared to its earlier guidance of more than 10%. The carrier said higher jet fuel prices will drive an additional $45 million to $50 million incremental fuel expense in the quarter.

Low-cost rival Allegiant said it expects first-quarter revenue to “more than offset higher fuel costs,” and raised its adjusted earnings-per-share outlook to between $3.25 and $3.75, up from the prior range of $2.50 to $3.50. The carrier raised its expected average fuel cost by $0.40 per gallon to $3.

Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, which are also set to present at the conference on Tuesday, were similarly up in premarket trading. This story will be updated as additional carriers present.

Max Knoblauch3h

US airlines pop on report Spirit preparing to shut down as government rescue deal fails to gain support

US airlines are spiking on Friday following a Wall Street Journal report that low-budget carrier Spirit Airlines is preparing to shut down. According to CBS News, the airline could cease operations as early as Saturday, barring an intervention.

In late April, President Trump said he would “love somebody to buy Spirit.” The administration weighed a $500 million rescue package, though it received significant blowback from members of Congress and ultimately didn’t receive support from Spirit’s creditors.

On Friday, Trump told reporters that the administration has given Spirit a “final proposal.”

Shares of Spirit’s rivals surged on the report, with budget carriers like Frontier Airlines and JetBlue climbing by double digits. The big four — Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines — rose by low single digits. Alaska Air and Allegiant also saw a bump.

Helena Cheng3h

Estée Lauder gets a glow-up after earnings beat, guidance hike

Estée Lauder shares are soaring after the beauty giant released Q3 earnings results that topped expectations and raised its full-year outlook, while also expanding its restructuring plan.

The key numbers:

Revenue of $3.71 billion (compared to analysts’ estimate of $3.69 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.91 (estimate: $0.65).

Estée Lauder also lifted its full-year earnings outlook to a range of $2.35 to $2.45 per share, up from $2.05 to $2.25 previously.

The bottom line is getting flattered by job cuts, with management increasing that target to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a prior range of 5,800 to 7,000, as part of a broader effort to streamline operations and shift toward faster-growing sales channels.

The rally comes after a tough stretch for the stock, which is down more than 20% year to date, with the results inspiring hope that its turnaround efforts will bear fruit.

CEO Stéphane de La Faverie said fiscal 2026 is “promising to be the pivotal year we intended,” with the company expecting to restore organic sales growth and expand margins for the first time in four years.

Amid these positive signals, Estée Lauder flagged risks from tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and potential disruptions tied to the Middle East.

Matt Phillips

FLASHBACK

Stocks like Dell, Intel, Sandisk, Western Digital, and Cisco are on fire.

J. Edward Moreno6h

Moderna beats Q1 estimates and reaffirms full-year guidance

Moderna rose in premarket trading after it reported earnings results that beat Wall Street expectations and reaffirmed its full-year guidance.

For the first three months of 2026, the company reported:

An adjusted loss per share of $3.40, less than the $4.45 loss per share analysts polled by FactSet had expected.
Revenue of $352 million, more than the $236 million the Street was anticipating. About 80% of that came from outside the US, the company said.

For the full year in 2026, the company still expects:

Revenue to grow 10%. Currently, analysts are penciling in $2 billion in 2026 sales, which is about a 5% increase.

Moderna was tapped by the US government to quickly develop a vaccine for COVID-19 in 2020, a product that has seen its sales plummet, but remains the company’s main source of revenue.

Now, the company sees growth on the horizon this year, after the European Commission approved its combination vaccine for the flu and COVID-19 for adults ‌50 years and older. Indeed, Moderna said a growing share of its revenue is coming from international markets.

The company has had a harder time getting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, though the agency said in February that it would reconsider its stand-alone flu vaccine.

Helena Cheng6h

Chevron posts mixed Q1 results, as sales miss offsets big earnings beat

Chevron is modestly lower after posting mixed Q1 results, as investors wonder whether elevated oil prices and crack spreads will continue to buoy earnings in the quarters to come.

The key numbers:

Q1 revenue of $48.6 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $50.6 billion).
Adjusted earnings per share of $1.41 (estimate: $0.90).
Production of 3.86 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (estimate: 3.8 million).

The upside surprise in Chevron’s upstream (production) business more than offset underwhelming results in its downstream (refined) division.

Friday’s dip comes with Chevron outperforming most of the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund as of 10:36 a.m. ET, with tumbling West Texas Intermediate futures weighing on energy stocks.

Chevron said earnings would have been better if not for “unfavorable timing effects” totaling about $2.9 billion, which included mark-to-market losses on derivatives and inventory accounting impacts, weighing on reported earnings.

“Despite heightened geopolitical volatility and related supply disruptions, Chevron delivered solid first-quarter performance,” CEO Mike Wirth said, citing strong US operations and production growth following the integration of Hess.

Ahead of these results, Chevron had also cautioned that supply may take time to respond to higher prices. Wirth also said in a CBS interview that restoring production is “not like turning on a faucet,” noting it can take “weeks and months, in some cases years” to bring disrupted fields and infrastructure back online.

The results also come as Wirth met with President Trump and other energy executives this Tuesday to discuss potential steps to stabilize oil markets in the event that shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain limited.