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Oil climbs on concerns over potential Iranian supply disruption

Summary

  • Brent and WTI rose for a fifth straight session Wednesday
  • Markets priced in potential Iranian supply disruptions
  • U.S. crude and fuel stock builds limited gains
  • Venezuela’s export resumption also capped prices

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) – rose on Wednesday for a fifth straight session on fears of Iranian supply disruptions due to a potential U.S. attack on and possible retaliation against U.S. regional interests.

Brent futures were up 76 cents, or 1.2%, at $66.23 a barrel at 1411 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 68 cents, or 1.1%, at $61.83 a barrel.

Tehran warned U.S. allies in the Middle East it would strike U.S. bases on their soil if Washington attacked Iran. Some personnel were advised to leave a U.S. military base in Qatar.

“We are in a period of geopolitical instability and potential supply disruption,” said Jorge Montepeque, managing director at Onyx Capital Group. “The protests in Iran are seen as potentially leading to a regime change. That’s a big one and the possibility of a U.S. attack is looking high.”

TRUMP TELLS IRANIANS: HELP ON THE WAY

U.S. President on Tuesday urged Iranians to keep protesting and said help was on the way, without specifying what that meant.

“Protests in Iran risk tightening global oil balances through near-term supply losses, but mainly through rising geopolitical risk premium,” Citi analysts said in a note, raising their outlook for Brent over the next three months to $70 a barrel.

The analysts noted, however, that the protests had not spread to the main Iranian oil-producing areas, which had limited the effect on actual supply.

The oil price rise was also curbed by significant crude and product builds in the U.S., the American Petroleum Institute reported late on Tuesday.

Crude stocks in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, rose by 5.23 million barrels in the week ended January 9, the API reported, citing market sources.

Gasoline inventories climbed 8.23 million barrels, while distillate inventories rose 4.34 million barrels from a week earlier.

Stockpile data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released later on Wednesday. On Tuesday, a Reuters poll showed that U.S. crude oil stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, while gasoline and distillate inventories likely rose.

Also capping prices, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries member Venezuela has begun reversing oil production cuts made under a U.S. embargo as crude exports were also resuming, three sources said.

Two supertankers departed Venezuelan waters on Monday with about 1.8 million barrels each of crude in what may be the first shipments of a 50-million-barrel supply deal between Caracas and Washington to get exports moving again following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

(Reporting by Anna Hirtenstein in London. Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova in Tokyo and Emily Chow in Singapore. Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Mark Potter, Ed Osmond, Rod Nickel)

 

US approves Nvidia H200 chip exports to China with some conditions

Summary

  • approved ‘s H200 AI chip exports to China
  • Shipments will face third-party testing and customer security reviews
  • China-bound sales capped relative to U.S. customer volumes
  • Critics warn the move could boost China’s military AI capabilities

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – The Trump administration on Tuesday gave a formal green light to China-bound sales of Nvidia’s second-most powerful , putting in place a rule that will likely kickstart shipments of the H200 despite deep concerns among China hawks in Washington.

According to the regulations, the chips will be reviewed by a third-party testing lab to confirm their technical AI capabilities before they can be shipped to China, which cannot receive more than 50% of the total amount of chips sold to American customers.

Nvidia will need to certify there are enough H200s in the U.S., while Chinese customers must demonstrate “sufficient security procedures” and cannot use the chips for military purposes. Those conditions had not been established previously.

NVIDIA PRAISES MOVE

In a statement, Nvidia said the move by U.S. President “strikes a thoughtful balance that is great for America” and will help the company compete in the global chip market.

“The administration’s critics are unintentionally promoting the interests of foreign competitors on U.S. entity lists – America should always want its industry to compete for vetted and approved commercial business, supporting real jobs for real Americans,” Nvidia said.

“China has consistently advocated that China and the United States achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through cooperation,” Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement. “We oppose blocking and restricting China, which disrupts the stability of industrial and supply chains.”

Trump announced last month that he would allow the chip sales in exchange for a 25% fee for the U.S. government. The decision drew fire from China hawks across the U.S. political spectrum over concerns the chips would supercharge Beijing’s military and erode the U.S. advantage in .

Jay Goldberg, an equities analyst with Seaport Research, said the caps on exports appeared to be a compromise that put some restrictions on Nvidia’s China sales but might be difficult to enforce.

“As we have seen, (Chinese) companies have found ways to get access to those chips, and the U.S. government appears highly transactional in their approach to chip exports,” Goldberg said. “Put another way, this looks like a Band-Aid, a temporary attempt to cover the huge gap among the U.S. government’s export policy makers.”

CHINESE H200 ORDERS TOP 2 MILLION

Chinese technology companies have placed orders for more than 2 million H200 chips that are priced at around $27,000 each, Reuters reported last month, exceeding Nvidia’s inventory of 700,000 of the chips.

At the Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Nvidia Jensen Huang said the company was ramping up production of H200 chips amid strong demand both from China and the rest of the world that was driving up the price to rent the H200 chips currently sitting in cloud computing .

Saif Khan, who served as director of technology and on the White House National Security Council under former President Joe Biden, said the rule would substantially boost China’s AI capabilities.

“The rule would allow about 2 million advanced AI chips like the H200 to China, an amount equal to the compute owned today by a typical U.S. frontier AI company,” Khan said. “The administration will also face challenges enforcing the rule’s know-your-customer requirements that restrict Chinese cloud providers from supporting nefarious uses.”

Such concerns had prompted the Biden administration to bar sales of advanced AI chips to China. But the Trump administration, led by White House AI czar David Sacks, argues that shipping advanced AI chips to China discourages Chinese competitors – such as heavily sanctioned Huawei – from redoubling efforts to catch up with Nvidia’s and AMD’s most advanced chip designs.

When Trump announced the sales last month, he said they would be exported to China “under conditions that allow for continued strong National Security.”

But questions have arisen around whether the administration would in practice impose any limits on the chip shipments, or even if Beijing would allow their sales domestically.

Reuters reported last month that the U.S. had launched a review that could result in the first shipments of the chips to China.

(Reporting by Karen Frefield, Alexandra Alper, David Shepardson, Bhargav Acharya and Stephen Nellis; Editing by Deepa Babington, Lincoln Feast, Jamie Freed, Rod Nickel)

 

US banking giants reap bigger profits as borrowers seek more loans

NEW YORK, Jan 14 (Reuters) – U.S. banking giants boosted their profits in the fourth quarter, buoyed by increasing demand from borrowers that could bode well for lenders’ future earnings.

‘s average loans grew 8% from a year earlier, and its net interest income – or the difference between what it earns from loans and pays out in deposits – surged to a record $15.9 billion, it reported on Wednesday. At rival , averaged loans climbed 9%. is closely viewed by investors as a positive indicator for banks’ businesses.

“We’ve seen growth in all of the consumer borrowing categories,” Bank of America Chief Financial Office Alastair Borthwick told reporters on a conference call. “That’s helped us in Q4, but generally, the story in 2025 was more of a commercial borrowing story, and we’ve been gratified by the fact that our clients in a growing economy have continued to invest to support their businesses.”

Analysts at S&P Global Market Intelligence “are optimistic about continued momentum into 2026, driven by macroeconomic stability and favorable lending conditions,” they wrote in a report Tuesday. They estimated loan growth across “accelerated significantly” by the end of 2025, growing 5.3% year-on-year.

‘s average loans climbed 7% in the fourth quarter, driven by is markets, U.S. personal banking and services businesses, it reported on Wednesday.

“We saw the pace of loan growth pick up for the first time in a while,” Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo told reporters on a conference call. Loans grew 12% for its commercial businesses in the fourth quarter, while revenue also increased due to auto and card lending.

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar in New York, Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru and Nivedita Balu in Toronto, editing by Lananh Nguyen and Nick Zieminski)

 

Best Products co-founder Frances Lewis dies at 103

Frances Aaronson Lewis, who co-founded -based national retail chain and was a major figure among contemporary U.S. art collectors and patrons, died Jan. 10 at the age of 103, her family announced Tuesday.

Lewis and her late husband, , started Best Products in 1957, sending out catalogs that specialized in electronics and home goods, and opened its first showroom near the Willow Lawn Shopping Center in . In 1981, the company opened its headquarters in Henrico’s West End, a building that won an American Institute of Architects award and included two imposing Art Deco eagles outside the building, a signal of the couple’s artistic flair. By 1982, Best Product’s sales reached more than $1 billion, a figure that would climb to $2 billion.

However, in 1997, following two bankruptcy filings, Best Products closed its 180 stores in 23 states. Analysts at the time viewed the store as unable to compete against Walmart and Kmart as discount competitors.

The Lewis name remains well known to Richmonders and visitors to the , the state institution to which the Lewises donated more than 1,500 pieces, some of which are in a gallery named for the couple, and where the Best Café welcomes visitors seeking a place to sit and eat. Prominent patrons and collectors of contemporary 20th century American art, the Lewises received the National Medal of Arts in 1987.

often brought avant-garde artists to Richmond in the 1970s and 1980s, many of whom she and Sydney Lewis had met through their friendship with Andy Warhol, noted Bob Mooney, a longtime friend of the Lewises and co-founder and managing director of Richmond-based growth fund NRV.

She also was instrumental in supporting Virginia Commonwealth University’s arts program and the university’s former Anderson Gallery.

The couple hosted many trips to New York and other places, facilitated by the VMFA, “but it was really Sydney and Frances who did that, and we were able to go visit different cities, meet artists, experience modern art and take us not just to the studios but to have us spend time with the artists themselves, whose works are often seen on the walls of the VMFA,” Mooney recalled.

A 1976 portrait of Sydney and Frances Lewis, painted by Walter Henry “Jack” Beal Jr., is on display at the library of the Frances Lewis Law Center at the Washington and Lee University School of Law. Photo courtesy Brandon Hasbrouck

For Frances Lewis’s 60th birthday, “she flew several modern artists, composers and writers to their home for the birthday party, and it was just amazing,” Mooney said. Although the Lewises collected contemporary furniture pieces and personalized art by Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, as well as paintings by late 20th century artists Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Rothenberg, “the Lewises never talked about their collections. They just talked about the friendships which brought about their incredible collection.”

The couple, along with fellow art collectors Paul and Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, were pillars of the VMFA and established significant portions of the museum’s permanent collection in the 1980s.

The late Upperville businessman Paul Mellon, Mooney noted, specialized in collecting European Impressionists and British sporting art featuring horses and dogs — a far cry from Warhol’s “Triple Elvis” canvas in the Lewis gallery. Still, Mooney said, Mellon and Frances Lewis forged a friendship that helped Richmond establish its reputation for art.

“It’s almost impossible to imagine the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts without Frances Lewis’s vision, generosity and friendship,” VMFA Alex Nyerges, director of the state art museum in Richmond, said Tuesday in a statement. “She and her late husband, Sydney, were instrumental in transforming the institution into the global destination for modern and contemporary art and decorative arts that it is today.

“A passion for growth, and a fundamental belief that great art is to be shared with everyone, is something Frances believed in. This museum has been shaped by her and her late husband’s example for many decades and will continue to be. With the passing of Frances Lewis, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts has lost a dear friend. She will be forever remembered here,” Nyerges added.

Frances Lewis’ influence extended beyond the art world and Best Products; Washington and Lee University’s Frances Lewis Law Center also bears her name. Brandon Hasbrouck, director of the center, said that she and her husband, a W&L Law School alumnus, “challenged the leaders of the institution to think bigger, [asking], what do you need?”

The law center, Hasbrouck noted, promotes scholarship among W&L law faculty, thanks to a 1978 gift by the couple. “She’s legendary,” he added Tuesday. “What a life lived.”

In a 2022 interview, Frances Gibson McGlothlin, who became a significant supporter of the VMFA with her late husband, Jim McGlothlin, spoke about meeting Frances Lewis by chance at VCU Health while both of their husbands were in the hospital.

In 1982, (from left) Virginia Museum Fine Arts donors Paul Mellon, Frances Lewis and Sydney Lewis attend the museum's west wing groundbreaking ceremony. Photo courtesy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
In 1982, (from left) Virginia Museum Fine Arts donors Paul Mellon, Frances Lewis and Sydney Lewis attend the museum’s west wing groundbreaking ceremony. Photo courtesy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

“I was kind of walking up and down the hall,” Fran McGlothlin recalled, “and I ran into this woman who introduced herself as Frances Lewis. I didn’t know who that was, and her husband was there. And she said, ‘What are you doing?’ because I had this catalog in front of me, and I told her I was trying to pick out a frame for this particular picture. And so then she invited me down to their [hospital] suite, which was at the end of the hall, for martinis.”

Later, McGlothlin said, “she took me over to the museum. She pointed out … they needed to have more American art.”

Ultimately, the McGlothlins donated more than $250 million worth of American artworks from the 19th and early 20th centuries to the VMFA, in addition to major financial gifts contributing to two expansions of the museum this century.

Frances Lewis was born in New York and was raised in Washington, D.C., and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She married Sydney Lewis in 1942, and they had three children, Sydney Lewis Jr., Andrew Marc Lewis and Susan Lewis Butler. Marc Lewis was president and chief operating officer of Best Products. Sydney Lewis died in 1999.

Mooney, who says that Lewis’s friendship changed his life and sparked his interest in contemporary art, called her a “catalyst” for many people she came into contact with. “She helped people see things and think about things from a different perspective.”

Wall Street falls with financials amid credit card rate plan

Summary

  • Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, driven by rents and food
  • posted their biggest monthly gain in more than three years
  • Core inflation remained moderate, keeping rate cuts in play later this year
  • Shutdown-related data distortions masked some inflation pressures

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) – ended lower on Tuesday, led by a drop in financial shares as comments from JPMorgan executives added to worries about U.S. President ‘s recent proposal for a cap on credit‑card rates.

Investors also digested a report from earlier in the day showing that a reading on inflation for December came in as expected, leaving intact market expectations for interest rate cuts from the this year.

Top JPMorgan executives including Jamie Dimon warned that Trump’s proposed 10% cap on credit card would severely hurt consumers.

That revived a recent selloff in financials over Trump’s proposed one-year cap of 10% on credit card interest rates. Trump last week proposed the cap for one year, starting on January 20.

Shares of Visa and Mastercard fell, while the helped lead declines in the S&P 500.

Shares of JPMorgan also fell. The bank reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit but also a drop in investment banking fees.

“Financials are getting hit by Trump’s credit card proposal,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.

“It seems to be sinking in,” he said. “I think it’s going to be extremely difficult to have that become a reality, but it’s still out there.”

Other big banks, due to report their quarterly numbers later this week, were also lower even as analysts expected most banks to post stronger results for the last quarter.

shares also eased as the midpoint of its 2026 profit forecast fell short of analysts’ expectations.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 lost 13.97 points, or 0.20%, to end at 6,963.30 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 22.70 points, or 0.10%, to 23,711.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 394.97 points, or 0.81%, to 49,195.23.

The day’s declines most likely reflect “a little bit of letting the air out of the balloon,” after recent record highs, said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president, adviser for Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

Earnings news overall for the fourth-quarter reporting period will most likely be positive, he said, adding, “I suspect there are going to be some upward revisions.”

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Matthew Lewis)

 

 

Six nursing facilities in western Virginia apparently sold to California investor

SUMMARY: 

CareTrust REIT appears to have acquired six skilled nursing facilities located in western Virginia.

On Jan. 5, the California-based publicly-traded real estate investment trust announced the purchase of six skilled nursing facilities in the mid-Atlantic for about $142 million, effective on the first day of the year. A spokesperson for CareTrust REIT declined to say which company sold the properties or give the names of the six facilities.

However, on Sunday, Larry H. Miller Senior Health (LHMSH), a Utah-based provider of post-acute and services, announced the company had assumed operation of six facilities from -based Kissito Healthcare. The facilities are the Brian Center of ; Maple Grove Nursing and Rehab in Lebanon; Bland Nursing & Rehab in Bastian; Brian Center of Alleghany in Low Moor; Springs Nursing & Rehab in ; and Mulberry Creek Nursing & Rehab in .

When asked about the ownership of the six facilities, Zach Whitney, a spokesperson for LHMSH, referred to a news release about the CareTrust REIT acquisition.

“These communities play an essential role in health care delivery,” Jess Dalton, LHMSH’s president of advanced senior care, said in a statement. “Long-term care isn’t just a service; it’s a lifeline for families, especially in rural areas, and for aging adults who deserve dignity and connection. We are committed to supporting the dedicated teams in these facilities and preserving the trusted relationships they have built over decades.”

Robert McClintic, who became of Kissito in 2016, is listed as the company’s former CEO in the announcement.

“It has been an honor and a blessing to serve alongside the dedicated caregivers, leaders and communities that make Kissito Healthcare so special,” McClintic said in the release. “As those teams begin a new chapter with Larry H. Miller Senior Health, I am confident that the spirit of service and commitment to quality care will continue to thrive and grow.”

Facilities will continue to operate under the Kissito name, according to the LHMSH announcement. “The majority of the organization was retained, including nearly all senior leadership, all operational leadership, all regional clinical leadership and all direct care employees,” Whitney wrote in an email Tuesday. “This continuity ensured that the teams responsible for day-to-day operations and resident care remained fully in place.”

In 2010, Chicago-based Heavenrich & Co., a senior housing investment brokerage firm, represented Roanoke-based SmithPackett, a senior housing developer, in a sale of seven skilled nursing facilities to Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II for $45 million. Bland Nursing & Rehab, Maple Grove Health Care Center, The Brian Center of Fincastle, The Brian Center of Low Moor and The Springs Nursing Facility were among the facilities sold. The following year, Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT II was renamed the Griffin-American Healthcare Trust.

Medicare lists McClintic Operations as owning Brian Center of Fincastle; Maple Grove Nursing and Rehab; Bland Nursing & Rehab; Brian Center of Alleghany;  and Mulberry Creek Nursing & Rehab in Martinsville since 2023. That entity shares an address with Kissito Healthcare. Medicare lists Springs Nursing & Rehab as being owned by Kissito Healthcare.

“My understanding is that Robert purchased the buildings about [four] years ago, and CareTrust purchased them directly from him,” Whitney stated in an email. 

In October 2025, Kissito Healthcare announced Mulberry Creek Assisted Living in Martinsville would close at the end of 2025. A Kissito Healthcare executive told WDBJ-7 at the time that the facility’s costs for food and labor outweighed revenue.

US consumer inflation increases steadily, but households paying more for food and rents

Summary

  • Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December, driven by rents and food
  • posted their biggest monthly gain in more than three years
  • Core inflation remained moderate, keeping rate cuts in play later this year
  • Shutdown-related data distortions masked some inflation pressures

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices increased in December, lifted by higher costs for rents and food as some of the distortions related to the government shutdown that had artificially lowered inflation in November unwound, cementing expectations the would leave unchanged this month.

But rate cuts this year remain on the table, with the report from the Labor Department on Tuesday showing moderate underlying inflation pressures last month, which economists said suggested the import tariffs pass-through to prices was slowing. Economists were split on whether inflation had peaked.

Nonetheless, expensive food, with prices increasing by the most in more than three years, and rents underscored the affordability crisis facing President , partly blamed by economists on the White House’s policies, including sweeping import tariffs.

Trump has made a flurry of proposals to lower the cost of living, including banning institutional investors from buying single-family homes, as well as instructing the Federal Housing Finance Agency – which oversees mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – to purchase $200 billion of bonds issued by the two companies in a bid to bring down mortgage rates.

High inflation has eroded consumer confidence and Trump’s approval ratings and will be a political hot button this year as Trump and his fellow Republicans battle to retain control of the U.S. Congress. Consumers were likely to care more about higher food and rental costs than the moderate pace of inflation that was cheered by investors.

“Families may not closely track core inflation, but they see grocery prices and restaurant costs immediately,” said Sung Won Sohn, a finance and economics professor at Loyola Marymount University. “A renewed push in food prices is not merely a statistical detail, it can influence public perception, wage negotiations and ultimately economic behavior.”

The rose 0.3% last month, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. A 0.4% increase in the cost of shelter, which includes rents, was the main driver of the rise in the CPI.

Food prices surged 0.7%, the largest gain since October 2022. There were notable increases in the prices of fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products. Beef prices, which have angered many Americans, rose 1.0%, with steaks soaring 3.1%. Steak prices surged 17.8% year-on-year in December, the largest advance in four years. Coffee prices rose 1.9%, reflecting tariffs. But egg prices decreased 8.2%.

The cost of food at restaurants and other outlets rose 0.7%, also the most since October 2022. Overall food prices increased 3.1% year-on-year in December. Trump has rolled back some agricultural tariffs to ease food prices. Economists said it would be some time before consumers see the effects.

Energy prices increased 0.3% as a 4.4% surge in natural gas prices offset a 0.5% decline in gasoline. eased 0.1%, but climbed 6.7% year-on-year, reflecting increased demand from amid an investment boom.

In the 12 months through December, the CPI advanced 2.7%, matching November’s gain. The increase in the CPI was in line with economists’ expectations.

The BLS estimated the CPI rose 0.2% from September to November. The 43-day shutdown prevented the collection of prices for October, resulting in the BLS using a carry-forward method to impute data, especially for rents, to compile November’s CPI report. While prices for November were collected, that was not until the second half of the month when retailers were offering holiday season discounts. The carry-forward imputation method treated October prices as unchanged.

Stocks on were lower. U.S. Treasury yields fell on the data. The dollar rose versus a basket of currencies.

UNDERLYING INFLATION WAS MODERATE IN DECEMBER

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI increased 0.2% in December. The BLS estimated the so-called core CPI climbed 0.2% from September to November. Economists said distortions from the shutdown remained in the CPI data.

Despite the moderate rise in the core CPI, some details of its components were strong. Owners’ equivalent rent increased 0.3%, while the cost of hotel and motel rooms jumped 2.9%. Airline fares soared 5.2% and apparel rose 0.6%. Healthcare costs advanced 0.4%. But prices for used cars and trucks dropped 1.1% and the cost of household furnishings and operations eased 0.5%. The cost of wireless telephone services fell 3.3%.

The core CPI increased 2.6% year-on-year in December after rising by the same margin in November.

Economists estimated that lingering distortions from the shutdown held down the annual CPI rate by at least a tenth of a percentage point. Core inflation could accelerate in January as businesses push through beginning-of-year price increases.

“It is worth noting that the core CPI has jumped by 0.4% and more in each of the past four Januarys,” said Stephen Stanley, chief U.S. economist at Santander U.S. Capital Markets. “I would imagine that Fed officials are well aware of this history and are reserving judgment on inflation until they have a few more months of inflation data in hand.”

The U.S. central bank tracks the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price indexes for its 2% inflation target. Based on the CPI data, economists estimated the core PCE price index increased 0.46% in December, which would translate to a 2.9% rise year-on-year.

The Fed is expected to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range at its January 27-28 meeting.

An escalation in tensions between Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Trump has left most economists not expecting a rate cut before Powell’s term ends in May. The has opened a criminal investigation into Powell, which the Fed chief called a “pretext” to influence rates.

“Policymakers may lean more hawkish to signal institutional independence, while the episode also raises the probability that Powell remains on the board after his term as chair ends in mid-May 2026, given that his term as a governor runs through January 2028,” said Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Chizu Nomiyama and Andrea Ricci)

 

 

Delta leans on premium flyers for 2026 growth, orders Boeing 787s​​

Summary

  • Delta projects roughly 20% earnings growth in 2026
  • Premium and drive revenue as economy demand lags
  • Airline orders 30 widebody jets, with options for 30 more
  • Nearly 60% of revenue now comes from premium, loyalty and non-ticket sources

CHICAGO, Jan 13 (Reuters) – on Tuesday forecast earnings growth of about 20% in 2026, fueled mainly by higher-income and corporate travelers, even as demand for economy seats remains muted.

The Atlanta-based carrier also placed an order for 30 Boeing 787 widebody jets, with options for 30 more, to strengthen its long-haul fleet.

The airline’s outlook underscores the increasingly K-shaped , where higher-income consumers continue to spend freely while price-sensitive travelers pull back.

Delta shares were down nearly 3% at $68.94 on Tuesday afternoon, after the company’s midpoint of the full-year and quarterly profit forecasts came in below analysts’ expectations.

Strong demand for premium cabins, international routes, and co-branded credit cards has supported margins and revenue growth, even as domestic leisure travel and lower-yield segments show fatigue. Nearly 60% of Delta’s revenue now comes from premium products, loyalty programs, and other non-ticket sources, including its partnership with American Express.

Similar trends are emerging across industries including apparel, automotive and travel, as companies pivot toward higher-margin customers.

“The strength in the consumer sector is at the higher end of the curve,” Ed Bastian said. “The lower-end consumer is struggling. We fortunately do not live there.”

PRESSURE MOUNTS AT THE LOW END OF THE MARKET

The split was evident in the December quarter, when Delta’s overall passenger revenue rose just 1%, masking a widening gap within the cabin. Main-cabin ticket revenue fell 7% from a year earlier, while revenue from premium products increased 9%.

The imbalance in consumer spending is rippling across the U.S. airline industry. Low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers, which depend heavily on price-sensitive travelers, have struggled with weak profitability and excess capacity, prompting consolidation and retrenchment.

Allegiant has announced plans to acquire Sun Country Airlines, while Spirit Airlines has entered a second bankruptcy.

Delta is doubling down on its premium focus. Bastian said virtually all planned seat growth is in premium categories, with little expansion in the main cabin, and new aircraft are being configured with heavier premium seating.

The company expects 2026 adjusted earnings of $6.50–$7.50 per share and free cash flow of $3 billion–$4 billion. For the March quarter, it projects revenue growth of 5%–7% and adjusted earnings of 50 cents to 90 cents per share. Analysts polled by LSEG forecast $7.25 for the year and 72 cents for the quarter.

Bastian described the outlook as “upbeat,” citing record booking trends, but noted uncertainty tied to and policy. Company executives said a recovery in main-cabin demand would be needed to hit the upper end of guidance.

INTERNATIONAL RECOVERY UNEVEN

International demand remains solid overall, Bastian said, though some markets have yet to fully recover. Capacity to China remains well below pre-pandemic levels, while demand from Canada has also lagged. He said the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament could help unlock inbound international travel.

Delta’s fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.55 a share narrowly beat analysts’ expectations, though results were weighed down by the longest U.S. federal government shutdown on record, which disrupted tens of thousands of flights and cut about $200 million from quarterly profit.

Earlier in 2025, airlines were also hit by a sharp drop in demand following sweeping U.S. tariffs, which dented consumer confidence. Delta’s 2026 outlook assumes those disruptions will not be repeated.

BOEING ORDER DIVERSIFIES LONG-HAUL FLEET

Deliveries of the Boeing 787-10 widebody aircraft are scheduled to begin in 2031. The jet will be a new aircraft type for Delta, which over the past 15 years has leaned heavily toward Airbus, building a fleet centered on A220 and A320-family narrowbodies alongside its flagship A330 and A350 widebodies.

Bastian said the 787-10 was selected for its operating efficiency and flexibility on mid-range international routes, particularly across the Atlantic and to South America, where ultra-long-range capability is not required. He added that the order also reflects a deliberate effort to diversify suppliers as the airline expands internationally.

“It’s pretty tough to operate…being reliant on only a single-source provider,” he said.

(Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago and Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Matthew Lewis)

 

Former Intelsat CEO to head Herndon cybersecurity company

Herndon-based company Everfox has appointed former David Wajsgras as its and CEO, effective Monday.

Wajsgras is succeeding Sean Berg, who will be stepping down from the role after what the company described in its  news release Monday as a “successful tenure.” Berg will continue to assist the company in an advisory capacity.

Formerly known as Forcepoint Federal, Everfox is a more than 30-year-old cybersecurity company serving U.S. and foreign government agencies. Its services include multi-level information sharing and data transfer capabilities as well as cyber threat protection.

Global investment firm TPG acquired Forcepoint Federal from Forcepoint in 2023 for $2.45 billion. In January 2024, the company rebranded to Everfox.

“I’m excited to be joining the company at this pivotal time and look forward to working with the Everfox team supporting our global customers as their trusted cybersecurity partner,” Wajsgras said in a statement. “The need for the trusted, innovative solutions that Everfox delivers is greater than ever.”

Wajsgras has more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in both commercial and defense sectors. He was most recently the CEO of McLean-based satellite communications company Intelsat. Wajsgras was named CEO in April 2022, but left the company in July 2025 after Luxembourg-based SES acquired it for $3.1 billion.

Before Intelsat, he spent nearly 15 years at Raytheon, an RTX business, where he held several senior leadership roles. These roles included president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services division, which was responsible for developing advanced services and solutions in cybersecurity, space, defense and intelligence, as well as the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.

“Dave is an experienced leader who brings unmatched strategic, operational and financial expertise to Everfox,” Peter Leav, vice chairman of Everfox’s board of directors, said in a statement. “His entrepreneurial vision and success in growing and scaling global organizations make him an excellent fit to lead the company’s next chapter.”

Microsoft rolls out initiative to limit data-center power costs, water use impact

Summary

  • says it will pay full utility rates for data center power
  • Company pledges to replenish more water than its facilities consume
  • Trump praises Microsoft amid concern over rising AI-related power costs
  • Local opposition to has slowed projects in several states

Jan 13 (Reuters) – Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled an initiative to curb at its U.S. data centers and limit the impact on the general population from any potential surge in power prices.

Political leaders across the U.S. are urging a rapid expansion of data-center capacity and new power production to keep the country competitive in AI. However, local communities are voicing concerns over how the power-hungry facilities will impact their utility bills and use land, water and other natural resources in the region.

Microsoft said it will pay utility rates high enough to cover its power costs and work with local to expand supply when needed for its data centers.

It also pledged to replenish more water than its data centers consume, saying it would start publishing water-use information for each data center region in the U.S., along with its progress on replenishment.

“Especially when tech companies are so profitable, it’s both unfair and politically unrealistic for our industry to ask the public to shoulder added electricity costs for AI,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said in a statement.

The company did not respond to a request seeking financial details of its initiative.

Ahead of the announcement, U.S. President said on Monday the tech giant would make “major changes” in its AI infrastructure plans to curb data center power costs for Americans.

“Data centers are key to (the U.S. AI boom) … but the big technology companies who build them must ‘pay their own way.’ … Congratulations to Microsoft. More to come soon,” Trump said in a social media post.

Ahead of the midterm elections this year, Trump is under pressure to address growing cost-of-living concerns.

Microsoft had pulled its plans for a new data center in Wisconsin after opposition from the local community, CNBC reported in November.

The company said on Tuesday that as part of its investment in Wisconsin, it is supporting a new rate structure that would prevent data center power costs from being passed on to consumers.

Microsoft will also train local residents to fill construction and maintenance jobs at its data centers, as well as provide AI literacy training to communities.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Sriraj Kalluvila)