Episode summary
BI Weekend: Delta Earnings, Musk Party, 10 Companies to Watch in 3Q | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence
· · Hosts: Paul Sweeney, John Tucker · Guests: George Ferguson, Jennifer Rie, Anurag Rana, Craig Trudell, Sam Fazeli, Tim Craighead, Mark Douglas
Summary
Delta’s earnings reinforced a still-soft airline backdrop even as fuel costs help margins. The guest said Delta reinstated guidance at a lower EPS than it started the year with, premium demand remains strong, but basic economy and overall pricing look weaker, suggesting the industry still needs capacity to come out. He also said low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier appear to be trimming 3Q capacity, while Delta and United keep adding seats, which could pressure yields if demand does not keep up.
On antitrust, the guest argued that Trump-era enforcers are more willing than the Biden team to clear deals with remedies, which should help bigger transactions get done in the second half of the year and into 2026. She highlighted the FTC’s new Republican majority and said the Google-Whiz deal will be worth watching, though it may slip into next year.
The tech, autos, pharma, and media segments were more company-specific. CoreWeave’s all-stock purchase of Core Scientific was framed as a capacity expansion play, Tesla’s selloff reflected concern that Elon Musk’s new political party adds distraction and political risk, and Trump’s tax bill was presented as a clear win for pharma because it preserves orphan-drug economics for key products like Keytruda. The show also covered BI’s third-quarter watch list and MNTN’s IPO, with its CEO saying AI is already reshaping ad sales, targeting, and streaming TV.
Key takeaways
- The guest said Delta’s reinstated guidance still points to a softer airline market, with premium demand stronger than basic economy and yields under pressure.
- The guest said Spirit and Frontier look like they are cutting 3Q capacity, while Delta and United are still adding seats.
- The guest said Trump antitrust enforcers are more open to remedies, which could allow bigger deals to close in the second half.
- The guest said Trump’s tax bill is a major pharma positive because orphan-drug protections now preserve extra pricing time for drugs like Keytruda.
- The guest said Tesla investors worry Musk’s new political party adds distraction and raises the risk of alienating both Republicans and Democrats.
- MNTN’s CEO said AI is driving higher marketing efficiency and making streaming TV targeting more precise, which is reshaping ad budgets.
Notable quotes
“They reinstated guidance, but at a lower EPS than they had initiated at the beginning of the year”
“I think the market still looks a little bit soft to us. uh for sure fuel prices are giving uh airlines a bit of a a bolster on the bottom line”
“Trump's antitrust enforcers are willing to accept settlements with a remedy to allow a bigger deal to close”
“I do think we're going to start to see more bigger deals getting uh signed up in the second half and probably next year, too”
“if you're not doing that, you're losing right now. I mean, it's it's the intensity of it is pretty pretty um is quite up there”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg audio studios podcasts radio news. This is Bloomberg Intelligence with Paul Sweeney. — The real out our performance has been the US corporate high yield. These are two big time blue chip companies. One person's chaos is another person's animal spirits.
Breaking market headlines — And corporate news from across the globe. — Our view is that the economy is slowing down. There is the possibility of a death spiral. — Full quantum computing and AI are going to power the future. — People are just buying everything with tech.
Bloomberg Intelligence — With Paul Sweeney — On Bloomberg Radio, YouTube, and Bloomberg Originals. — I'm Paul Sweeney. — And I'm John Tucker. Filling in on Bloomberg Intelligence. — On today's show, we dig inside the big business stories impacting Wall Street and the global markets. Each and every week, we provide in-depth research and data on some of the 2,000 companies and 130 industries our analysts cover worldwide.
Today, we'll look at why Tesla investors may be concerned about CEO Elon Musk's new political party. — And plus, we're going to look at Bloomberg Intelligence's 10 companies to watch in the third quarter of 2025. — But first, we begin with the airline industry.
And this week, Delta Airlines reported quarterly earnings and also reinstated a profit outlook for the year. The company also said travelers are coming back. — For more, John Tucker and I were joined by George Ferguson, Bloomberg Intelligence senior aerospace, defense, and airlines analysts.
And first, we asked George for his take on Delta's recent earnings. — They reinstated guidance, but at a lower EPS than they had initiated at the beginning of the year. I think the market still looks a little bit soft to us. uh for sure fuel prices are giving uh airlines a bit of a a bolster on the bottom line.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- delta earnings
- ai infrastructure deals
- elon musk political party
- tesla investor concerns
- trump tax bill impact on pharma
Companies and tickers mentioned
- DAL
- CORZ
- TSLA
- MNTN
- Delta Air Lines
- CoreWeave
- Core Scientific
- Tesla
- MNTN
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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