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The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) set a new all-time high on Wednesday, rising 0.6% to close at 618.77. Even as the U.S. government remains stubbornly shut down for an ninth straight day, the market continues to inch higher Thursday, up 0.5% premarket.
Helping the market today is a positive earnings forecast from Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL | DAL Price Prediction), which forecast today that it will earn between $1.60 and $1.90 per share in Q4, better than the $1.65 per share that analysts were predicting.
CEO Ed Bastian warned that if the government shutdown drags on too long, it’s likely to affect his company, and the airline industry in general — and the economy. For the time being, however, Delta’s boss confirms that he hasn’t seen “any impacts at all” on Delta’s business.
Commenting on reports yesterday that a handful of airports are starting to see an uptick in flight delays, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy agreed that he’s seen a “slight uptick” in air traffic controllers, who are currently working without pay, calling in sick rather than coming to work, and that this could affect flight operations, causing delays.
Earnings
But getting back to earnings at Delta, which is an S&P 500 component company, Delta reported its Q3 numbers this morning, which were $0.18 better than expected at $1.71 per share. Revenue was $15.2 billion, also better than expected.
Taken in conjunction with the Q4 guidance, and the full-year guidance for a better than expected $6 per share for fiscal 2025, Delta’s report was positive on all fronts, and the stock is up more than 7% premarket.
A second big S&P 500 component, PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP), also reported good profits this morning. Q3 earnings at Pepsi “beat” by three cents at $2.29 per share, with revenue also ahead of forecasts at $23.9 billion.
Pepsi stock us up less than 1% premarket.
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