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Alaska Air lowers its Q1 profit forecast due to surging fuel costs

Alaska Air ticked down in premarket trading on Monday, following the carrier’s announcement that it has lowered its first-quarter profit guidance.

The airline now expects an adjusted loss per share of between $1.50 and $2 in Q1, deeper than its prior guidance range of a $0.50 to $1.50 loss per share.

Fueling the update is, what else, fuel costs. Alaska Air says that the refining margins for its cheapest jet fuel — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of overall supply — have spiked 400% since February, from an average of $0.45 per gallon to about $2.25 per gallon. Jet fuel refining margins have surged industrywide to 20-year highs amid the war in Iran, which in turn is sending fares higher.

Alaska said it’s seeing “encouraging revenue trends” heading into the peak summer travel season, despite severe flooding in Hawaii and reduced demand to Puerto Vallarta due to increased cartel violence.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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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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