BUSINESS NEWS TODAY – FRIDAY, JULY 24, 2026
Stock futures are up slightly to end the week, with the S&P 500 rising 0.21%, the Dow up 0.41%, and the Nasdaq rising 0.11%.
Benchmark crude oil is trading slightly below $90 a barrel on Friday morning.
Biggest gainers from Thursday’s trading are NovoCure Limited (+28.39%) and Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. (+15.88%). Biggest losses are Liberty Energy, Inc. (-21.96%) and Albertsons Companies, Inc (-21.64%).
On Thursday, July 23:
- The S&P 500 lost 90.66 points to 7,408.30.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 506.93 points to 51,711.65.
- The Nasdaq composite dropped 553.21 points to 25,137.69
For The Week:
- The S&P 500 has dropped49.39 points (0.7%)
- The Dow has fallen 434.77 points (0.8%)
- The Nasdaq has lost 382.55 points (1.5%)
For The Year
- The S&P 500 has added 562.80 points (8.2%)
- The Dow has gained 3,648.36 points (7.6%)
- The Nasdaq has increased 1,895.70 points (8.2%)
American Airlines Reports Record Revenue, Worries About Fuel Costs
Second-quarter highlights:
- Record revenue of $16.7 billion, up 16.3% year over year, the highest quarterly revenue in company history, driven by strong performance across American’s four commercial pillars.
- Strong demand and execution that offset nearly 50% of the over $2.2 billion year-over-year fuel expense increase.
- GAAP net income of $71 million, or $0.11 per diluted share.
- Adjusted net income of $99 million1, or $0.15 per diluted share.
“American delivered year-over-year revenue growth of more than 16% in the second quarter, exceeding our initial expectations and continuing the momentum we’ve built across the business,” said American’s CEO Robert Isom. “This performance reflects the strength of our commercial strategy, driven by our four pillars: elevate the customer experience, grow the global network, drive premium revenue and lead in loyalty. Revenue growth was strong across all entities and cabins, with premium, Main Cabin, domestic and international all up meaningfully year over year. These results demonstrate that our revenue performance and efficiency efforts will continue to drive improved results, and I’m excited about the remainder of 2026 and what’s ahead in 2027 and beyond. Thank you to the American Airlines team for their outstanding execution on our commercial and operational objectives during the quarter.”
The strength of American’s revenue performance and continued efficiency efforts helped to offset a challenging fuel environment. Fuel expense increased by over $2.2 billion, or 83% year over year. American was able to offset nearly 50% of this fuel headwind in the second quarter through higher fares. Fuel prices have remained volatile in recent weeks. Based on the forward fuel curve as of July 21, American expects third-quarter fuel expense to be up $1.7 billion year over year. The company is focused on mitigating the impact of higher fuel expense through robust demand for American’s product and the continued execution of its four-pillar strategy.
Intel Offers Upbeat Forecast After Strong Earnings
- Second-quarter revenue was $16.1 billion, up 25% year-over-year (YoY).
- Second-quarter earnings (loss) per share (EPS) attributable to Intel was $(2.16); non-GAAP EPS attributable to Intel was $0.42.
- Forecasting third-quarter 2026 revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion; expecting third-quarter EPS attributable to Intel of $0.31 and non-GAAP EPS attributable to Intel of $0.38.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Intel Corporation today reported second-quarter 2026 financial results.
“AI is driving unprecedented demand for compute, and as we continue to execute, Intel is well-positioned to capture sustainable growth across our CPU franchise, ASICs, advanced packaging and vast wafer foundry network,” said Lip-Bu Tan, Intel CEO. “Our Q2 results represent our strongest revenue growth in more than fifteen years, enabled by greater speed, accountability, and customer focus.”
“We delivered a strong second quarter, exceeding our financial guidance on robust demand and improved execution, including volume upside driven by higher factory yields and improved cycle times,” said Dave Zinsner, Intel CFO. “AI-driven compute continues to strengthen, and to support expected growth this year and next across products and foundry, we are meaningfully increasing our investments in equipment, clean room space, and substrates.”
American Express Posts Strong Earnings And Raises Forecast
American Express Company (NYSE: AXP) today reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $3.1 billion, compared with net income of $2.9 billion a year ago. Earnings per share was $4.53, up 11 percent from $4.08 a year ago.
“We had another excellent quarter, with 10 percent revenue growth, EPS of $4.53, and Card Member spending growth of 9 percent, the highest rate we’ve seen in three years on an FX-adjusted basis. Based on our better-than-expected performance in the first half of the year, we are raising our full-year revenue growth guidance to 10 percent and plan to reinvest this outperformance in growth initiatives given the significant opportunities we see ahead. We continue to expect full-year EPS of $17.30 to $17.90.
“Six months into the year, we’re seeing stronger momentum than we expected. The investments we made in our value propositions have driven accelerated spend and revenue growth; our Platinum portfolio is now the fastest growing in our U.S. Consumer business; our best-in-class credit performance further strengthened; and we continued to attract a large number of new customers, particularly Millennials and Gen-Zs who represent greater lifetime value.
“We are competing from a position of strength and generating momentum that enables us to continue investing in our differentiated Membership Model, which reinforce our confidence in our ability to drive sustainable growth and shareholder returns over the long term.”
Second-quarter consolidated total revenues net of interest expense were $19.6 billion, up 10 percent year-over-year. The increase was primarily driven by higher Card Member spending and increased net interest income supported by growth in card balances, as well as strong card fee growth.
Consolidated provisions for credit losses were $1.1 billion, compared with $1.4 billion a year ago. The decrease reflected a reserve release during the quarter compared to a reserve build in the prior year, partially offset by higher net write-offs. The second-quarter net write-off rate was 2.0 percent, flat year-over-year.
Consolidated expenses were $14.5 billion, up 12 percent year-over-year. The increase was primarily driven by higher variable customer engagement costs due to increased Card Member spending, the U.S. Platinum Card® refresh, and usage of Card Member benefits, as well as higher operating expenses.
The consolidated effective tax rate was 23.6 percent, up from 18.7 percent a year ago, primarily reflecting discrete tax benefits in the prior year.