Episode summary
Daybreak Weekend: Delta Earnings, UK Tax Season, China Data | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
· · 38 min · Hosts: Nathan Hager
Summary
Delta Airlines’ Wednesday earnings are framed as a test of how much the Iran war, higher fuel prices, and summer travel demand will matter for U.S. carriers. Bloomberg Intelligence’s George Ferguson said investors are likely to care less about first-quarter results than about guidance for 2Q and 3Q, because fuel costs could force higher ticket prices and reshape demand. He argued Delta, United, and to a lesser extent American are better positioned than lower-end carriers because they serve more premium travelers who can absorb fare increases.
The week ahead also brings results from Constellation Brands and Levi Strauss. Tatiana Darier said expectations for Constellation are low, but some analysts think valuation is becoming more attractive after a sharp share decline. On Levi, she said analysts expect a modest beat but see risk that the company stays cautious on outlook because of macro uncertainty, tariff questions, and weakness tied to Europe and the Middle East.
In the UK, Caroline Hepka and John Steek said the new tax year begins on April 6 with major changes in employment rights, income tax drag, digital filing requirements, dividend and capital gains tax, and inheritance tax for farms and business property. In China, Doug Krer and economist Eric Zhu said March CPI and PPI may show inflation turning positive, helped by energy costs and supply-side measures, though demand recovery is still described as gradual and incomplete.
Key takeaways
- George Ferguson said Delta’s earnings will matter less than guidance on how fuel prices and the Iran conflict affect 2Q and 3Q travel demand.
- Ferguson said premium-heavy airlines like Delta and United should hold up better than Spirit, Frontier, JetBlue, and other lower-end carriers if fares rise 20% to 30%.
- Tatiana Darier said Constellation Brands faces low expectations, but valuation support has drawn upgrades even as Bloomberg Intelligence sees revenue down about 15%.
- Darier said Levi Strauss may beat estimates, but investors will focus on whether management stays cautious because of macro and tariff uncertainty.
- John Steek said the UK’s new tax year brings fiscal drag, higher compliance burdens, and tougher inheritance-tax treatment for farms and business assets.
- Eric Zhu said China’s PPI could turn positive for the first time in more than three years, but the recovery in domestic demand remains slow.
Notable quotes
“everything everything rides on what the outcome of the the Iran sort of, you know, war or fight, whatever you want to call it”
“The Employment Rights Act starts to come into force. That's the biggest change in employment law in decades”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. This is Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend, our global look at the top stories in the coming week from our Daybreak anchors all around the world. Straight ahead on the program, we look to how airlines could fare going forward. I'm Nathan Hager in Washington. I'm Caroline Hepka in London where we're looking ahead to a raft of tax changes in the UK at the start of the new financial year.
I'm Doug Krer looking ahead to the latest price reports for China and whether deflation is at a turning point. That's all straight ahead on Bloomberg Daybreak Weekend on Bloomberg 1130 New York, Bloomberg 991 Washington DC, Bloomberg 929 Boston, DAB Digital Radio London, SiriusXM121, and around the world on Bloombergradio.com and the Bloomberg Business App. Good day to you.
I'm Nathan Hager. We begin today's program in the air. Earning season gets underway this week with Delta Airlines reporting its latest results on Wednesday.
For more on this and what to expect for the airline industry as a whole, we're joined by George Ferguson, senior aerospace, defense, and airlines analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. George, it's great to speak with you ahead of the results uh from Delta. How much could we see the outlook for this airline affected by what we've seen over the last month of war with Iran?
Uh so thanks for having me on. I think that a lot of the outlook and a lot of investor perspectives on the airline uh will be a function of of that war uh in Iran and where it's at when uh when earnings are reported.
How so? — Yes. So I mean you know right now I think we're looking at a scenario where the straits of hummus uh look effectively closed right.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- delta earnings
- uk tax year
- china cpi ppi
- stock picks
Companies and tickers mentioned
- DAL
- Delta Air Lines
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
More from Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
-
Nvidia Faces Post-Huang Reckoning, Microsoft Races to Fix Outage | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition -
Daybreak Weekend: Nvidia Earnings, UK Labour Market, APEC Summit | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition -
Nvidia Weighs Succession Plans; Congress Preparing to Subpoena Jensen Huang | Bloomberg... -
GOP Thwarts Hegseth Impeachment; CoreWeave Quiets Doubts | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition -
FBI Investigates Nvidia CEO, Anthropic IPO Snafu | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition -
Nvidia CEO Affair Sparks Probe, Trump Admits Policy Mistake | Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition
Bloomberg Daybreak: US Edition, this episode and its artwork belong to Bloomberg. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
