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Delta Airlines Airbus A319 Portland Oregon.
A Delta Airbus A319 landing at PDX in bright evening sunlight.
Cyberstruck

The CrowdStrike fiasco wiped out $380 million of Delta revenue. Was it even worse than feared?

The six major airlines were expected to log a loss totalling $860 million due to the outage.

Yiwen Lu

The CrowdStrike outage cost Delta Air Lines $380 million in direct revenue loss for the three months that ended in September, according to Delta’s latest earnings report.

Earlier, insurer Parametrix estimated that Fortune 500 companies would suffer from a total financial loss of $5.4 billion from the outage. The airline industry was projected to be one of the most heavily impacted industries, with the six major airlines expected to log a $860 million loss. If that aligns with the actual number, Delta’s $380 million shortfall would account for almost half of the entire airline industry’s loss and around 7% of all Fortune 500 companies’ losses.

Delta was the most affected airline after the global IT outage in July, which hit about 8.5 million devices. The company was forced to cancel 7,000 flights over five days, according to its filings. Delta struggled even after rivals picked up normal operations; in comparison, United reportedly canceled 1,500 flights over a four-day period following the onset of the outage. 

During an earnings call before market open on Thursday, Delta blamed the outage for a 45-cent dip in earnings per share, which came in at $1.50 per share, less than analysts’ expectations. Revenue was also short of Wall Street estimates. 

Most of the revenue loss was driven by refunds and customer compensations. Reimbursement and crew expenses amounted to $170 million, or nearly half of the losses. CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that Delta was seeking compensation from CrowdStrike and Microsoft

Shares of Delta fell 3.7% immediately after market open on Thursday and gradually bounced back during intraday trading, though it was still 1.3% down in early afternoon. CrowdStrike stock was up 3.3% as of 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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Rocket Lab deal lifts space stocks

Shares of Rocket Lab are surging after announcing an $8 billion acquisition of satellite communications operator Iridium Communications, helping lift a broader basket of space-related stocks as investors piled back into the sector.

Planet Labs, AST SpaceMobile and Redwire all traded higher alongside Rocket Lab, extending gains in an industry that has drawn enhanced investor attention in recent months in light of the strategic importance that governments place on space and satellite communications infrastructure.

In a presentation, Rocket Lab’s management called the purchase “a shortcut” for its satellite communications business.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iridium shareholders will receive $27 in cash and Rocket Lab stock, valuing Iridium at $54 per share. Backed by a $3.6 billion bridge loan committed by Deutsche Bank and Wells Fargo, Rocket Lab absorbs Iridium’s globally licensed spectrum and an active base of 2.5 million subscribers.

Rocket Lab has also remained one of the most active launch providers in the sector. The company completed its 12th launch of the year last week, maintaining one of the highest launch cadences among commercial space companies.

Today's rally helps offset a brutal stretch for the group. Rocket Lab shares had fallen over 35% over the prior month, while Planet Labs stock was down more than 40% and AST SpaceMobile stock was down around 30% over the same window.

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Jake Lahut

Comcast shares rise on news of NBCUniversal spinoff deal

Comcast rose on the news that the telecom behemoth is spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky from its cable portfolio. 

Comcast initially jumped up to 17% in early trading, with the deal leaving management to focus on its core verticals of cable, wireless, and business services. 

NBCUniversal and Sky will form a new publicly traded company, similar to Versant Media, the holding company of CNBC and MS NOW that Comcast officially spun off in January. Bravo, one of the most lucrative properties that remained at Comcast, will remain part of NBCUniversal in the deal. The Universal theme parks and studios will also come with the new spinoff entity, along with Telemundo and Peacock.

Mike Cavanagh, the co-CEO of Comcast, will become the CEO for NBCUniversal, according to CNBC. 

The spinoff will be completed in about a year, according to a Comcast company statement. Its shareholders will also own shares in NBCUniversal, according to the same statement.

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