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United Airlines earnings results
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United Airlines falls on mixed Q2 numbers and lowered full-year outlook

You might want to buckle your safety belt.

United Airlines shares fell 1.5% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after the second-largest US airline topped Q2 earnings estimates but fell short on revenue and slashed its full-year guidance.

The company posted adjusted Q2 earnings per share of $3.87, beating forecasts for $3.81. Quarterly revenue came in at $15.2 billion, below the FactSet consensus view for $15.36 billion. Importantly, United Airlines lowered its previous full-year EPS guidance of between $11.50 and $13.50 to a new range of $9.00 to $11.00. (It had also given a “recessionary environment” guidance last quarter of $7.00 to $9.00.)

United had been one of the hardest-hit companies in an airline sector that got battered early in the year as investors weighed the impact of trade uncertainty on consumer sentiment. As of early April, the stock was down more than 40% for the year. But the economy has proven resilient, and airline stocks have rallied significantly. United was down about 9% on the year before this afternoon’s report.

The company has even been able to fly past turmoil related to the short-staffing of air traffic controllers at its Newark hub in May.

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Fermi rises after announcing nuclear deal with South Korean firms ahead of Trump visit

Fermi rose in premarket trading after it announced a nuclear deal with South Korean industrial firms Doosan Enerbility and Hyundai Engineering & Construction ahead of President Trump's visit to the country this week.

Fermi, which was cofounded by former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, plans to use nuclear energy to power data centers. The company is up about 20% since it went public earlier this month.

On Friday, the stock rallied after a wave of positive initial analyst coverage. Mizuho, Evercore, Cantor Fitzgerald and other banks all initiated coverage on Fermi by giving it a "buy" rating.

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Equity futures rally, but rare earth stocks sink, as top officials bring US-China trade deal close to the finish line

Stock futures are starting off the week on a positive footing after top US and Chinese economic officials said they ironed out many contentious trade issues ahead of a much-anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping this week.

US Treasury Scott Bessent said the two sides created “a very successful framework” for their leaders to discuss at a planned meeting on Thursday in South Korea during the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, while China’s top trade negotiator Li Chenggang agreed that both parties reached “a preliminary consensus.”

The seemingly successful table-setting has S&P 500 equity futures up 0.83% as of 5:52 a.m. ET, extending gains after the benchmark US stock index set intraday and closing record highs on Friday.

Bessent also told the press that Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, which caused temporary angst in markets earlier this month, is “effectively off the table.”

The Treasury Secretary added that he expects China to delay any restrictions on rare earth exports for a year and will start purchasing US soybeans in size once again.

While that’s positive news for a host of US companies that rely on an uninterrupted supply of minerals whose output is dominated by China, it’s also taking the wind out of the sails of some North American producers. As of 6 a.m. ET, Critical Metals is down more than 8%, USA Rare Earth is -7%, Lithium Americas was -3%, while United States Antimony Corp. is being hit the hardest, down more than 15%. Even MP Materials, which saw the Pentagon take a 10% stake in July, hasn’t been spared in early trading, down 5%, as the apparent trade truce reduces some of the urgency to boost local supply.

United States Antimony might also be down on the news that Australian mining company Larvotto Resources has rejected UAMY’s advances, shooting down the $723 million (AUD) scrip bid to acquire the firm proposed last week.

The TikTok deal and fentanyl were also among the topics discussed by negotiators this weekend, as were the tit-for-tat shipping fees that were implemented by both nations at major ports.

President Trump, for his part, told reporters, “I think we're going to have a deal with China.”

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Strive, the Vivek Ramaswamy-backed bitcoin treasury company, is surging again on elevated retail interest

Strive Inc is building on Friday’s massive gain with a big advance in the premarket on Monday, up roughly 25% as of 5:21 a.m. ET.

As of 5:02 a.m. ET, the bitcoin treasury company’s ticker is among the most-referenced on Reddit’s r/wallstreetbets forum over the past 12 hours, per data from SwaggyStocks.

SwaggyStocks
Source: SwaggyStocks

Record demand for bullish options propelled the bitcoin treasury company up 27% on Friday, with call volumes of 582,453. The activity was seemingly spurred by a tweet from Mike Alfred — a former entrepreneur and popular account on X who was recently appointed to the board of directors at Bakkt Holdings — who announced that he had taken a position in the name:

Strive, which was co-founded by former GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, positioned itself as a self-proclaimed “leader in the pushback against ESG and DEI mandates” before pivoting to become “the first publicly traded asset management firm to adopt a Bitcoin treasury strategy” in September, via a merger with Asset Entities.

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GameStop surges after the White House shares its post celebrating Halo’s availability on PlayStation for the first time

GameStop is surging in premarket trading after the official White House account shared one of its posts on X this weekend along with a comment.

On Saturday, the gaming and collectibles retailer declared an end to the so-called “Console Wars” after Microsoft said that next year’s “Halo: Campaign Evolved” will be available on PlayStation, the first time a title from this video game series will be available on the competing console.

That post was then reshared by The White House’s official account on Sunday night, along with an image of President Donald Trump as the military sci-fi series’ protagonist (a genetically engineered super-soldier), and the phrase “Power to the Players,” GameStop’s tagline.

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