Raphael Stevens

Wall Street expects General Motors to be the standout among the traditional Detroit automakers when they report second-quarter results this week.
Some analysts expect both GM and Ford to guide toward the upper end of their 2024 financial forecasts, if not raise them.
Chrysler parent Stellantis is in a different position compared to its rivals, as it deals with issues in North America.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra, center, at the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 17, 2022.
Source: NYSE

DETROIT — Wall Street expects General Motors to be the standout among the traditional Detroit automakers when they report second-quarter results this week, with sales and vehicle prices stable during the first half of the year for America’s largest carmaker.
GM is forecast to report a solid adjusted profit of $2.75 per share, up 44.2% from a year earlier, and $45.46 billion in revenue, up 1.6% over the prior-year period, according to average analyst estimates compiled by financial markets data and analytics company LSEG.

That compares to LSEG estimates for Ford Motor that call for adjusted earnings per share of 68 cents for the second quarter, down 5.2% from the second quarter of 2023. Ford’s automotive revenue is expected to increase 3.8% compared to a year earlier to $44.02 billion, according to LSEG.
GM reports earnings before markets open Tuesday. Ford is scheduled to report Wednesday afternoon after markets close, followed by Chrysler parent Stellantis, which reports earnings biannually, releasing its first-half results Thursday morning.
Several Wall Street analysts expect GM to guide toward the higher end of the automaker’s already raised guidance for 2024, if not raise it again as part of its second-quarter results. There’s less of a consensus regarding outlooks for Stellantis and Ford.

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GM, Ford and Stellantis stocks in 2024.

“We expect both Ford and GM to post solid 2Q beats, driven by favorable pricing; volume/mix will be a benefit for Ford, while GM should benefit from easy comps on cost,” Barclays analyst Dan Levy said in a July 15 investor note. “Both are expected to raise 2024 guidance.”
Evercore analyst Chris McNally remains “positive [on] GM (particularly over Ford),” citing the automaker’s lower pricing. Evercore still expects a “solid” second quarter for Ford, though, trending toward the upper half of its previously announced 2024 guidance.

Ford’s guidance for the year includes adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, of between $10 billion and $12 billion and free cash flow of $6.5 billion to $7.5 billion.
GM’s 2024 guidance comes in at adjusted earnings of $12.5 billion to $14.5 billion, or $9 to $10 a share, and adjusted automotive free cash flow in a range of $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion.
“Expect both companies to report solid quarters with either confident confirmations of prior guides (i.e. upper-end of ranges) or modest upward revisions,” Citi analyst Itay Michaeli said in a July 11 investor note.

Ford CEO Jim Farley at a battery lab for the automaker in suburban Detroit, announcing a new $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in the state to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries, Feb. 13, 2023.
Michael Wayland/CNBC

Stellantis, with major operations in North America and Europe, is in a different position compared to its rivals.
The transatlantic automaker is expected to report an adjusted operating profit for the first half of the year, but investors are concerned about its North American operations.
The company is in the midst of correcting what CEO Carlos Tavares described as “arrogant” mistakes in the region that have led to sales declines, bloated inventories and investor concerns. Those comments came during an investor event last month.
Despite the problems, Stellantis finance chief Natalie Knight said during the June event that the company’s adjusted operating income margin would be between 10% and 11% for the first half of the year.
She also reconfirmed Stellantis’ 2024 guidance that included a double-digit adjusted operating income margin, positive industrial free cash flow and at least 7.7 billion euros ($8.4 billion) in capital return to investors in the forms of dividends and buybacks.
Shares of Stellantis are down by more than 12% in 2024 — in contrast to shares of GM, up 36%, and Ford, up about 18%.

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares speaks to media on June 13, 2024 following the company’s investor day at its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Michael Wayland / CNBC

Tavares noted the convergence of three issues at Stellantis: selling down vehicle inventory too slowly; manufacturing issues, specifically with two unnamed plants; and a lack of “sophistication in the way to go to market.”
Stellantis, which owns brands such as Jeep and Ram in the U.S., is expected to report an 11.3% year-over-year decline in revenue to 45.37 billion euros ($49.39 billion), according to LSEG.
Analysts still expect Stellantis to be profitable in 2024, with projected adjusted earnings per share of $4.82. However, that would be down 18.9% from last year.
For GM, Ford and Stellantis alike, investors will be watching for updates on their electric vehicle plans, capital spending and rising new vehicle inventory levels in the U.S.
“We believe the U.S. auto cycle dynamics can remain supportive of strong [automaker] earnings streams, with healthy pricing dynamics maintained even despite some normalization,” Barclays’ Levy said. “Yet inventory levels have risen. … We believe rising inventory levels require monitoring, as incrementally negative datapoints may pressure [automaker] stocks.”
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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Delta Air Lines canceled more than 4,600 flights from Friday through Sunday, more than any other carrier.
The Atlanta-based airline also canceled another 550 flights, or 15% of its mainline operation, as of early Monday.
The disruptions have persisted at Delta while most other carriers have recovered.

Travelers wait in line at a Delta Airlines counter at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on July 19, 2024. Airlines around the world experienced disruption on an unprecedented scale after a widespread global computer outage grounded planes and created chaos at airports.
Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian apologized and offered frequent flyer miles to travelers for hundreds of flight cancellations as the carrier struggled to recover from Friday’s globe-spanning IT outage, disruptions that sparked criticism from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The Atlanta-based airline canceled more than 4,600 flights from Friday through Sunday, more than any other airline, according to aviation data firm OAG.

As of early Monday, Delta had already canceled another 550 flights, or 15% of its mainline operation.
The delays and cancellations have put Delta in a rare spotlight for the carrier whose leaders pride themselves on reliability and punctuality.
“We continue to receive reports of unacceptable disruptions and customer service conditions at Delta Air Lines, including hundreds of complaints filed with our Department,” Buttigieg said in an emailed statement late Sunday. “I have made clear to Delta that we expect the airline to provide prompt refunds” to customers who chose to call off their trips because of the disruptions as well as “timely reimbursements for food and overnight hotel stays to consumers affected by the delays and cancellations, as well as adequate customer service assistance to all of their passengers.”
The disruptions have persisted at Delta while most other carriers have recovered. American Airlines said it was almost back to normal by Saturday.
“I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events,” Bastian said in a message to customers. “Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted.”

The airline was offering flight attendants extra pay to pick up shifts, a staff memo on Sunday said. The carrier called some of them on their personal phones to come in, according to a person familiar with the matter. High demand during some one of the busiest periods of summer challenged the airline to find alternative flights for affected travelers, Bastian said in his note.
United Airlines also had elevated flight disruptions on Sunday with 9% of its schedule canceled, or 260 flights, according to FlightAware, but still below Delta’s.
Delta Air Lines has a number of Microsoft tools that were impacted in the outage, “in particular one of our crew tracking-related tools was affected and unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system shutdown,” Bastian said in his note.
That would make the event similar to an issue Southwest Airlines suffered, on a much greater scale, at the end of 2022 when it failed to recover from severe winter weather for days.
A botched software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike that paralyzed some Windows-based programs also hit the banking and health-care industries. More

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Stephanie Pope said the company is making progress on improving its output of planes.
She said the company’s transformation plan could take years to fully implement.
Boeing has scrambled to institute a safety and manufacturing improvement plan after a door plug blew out of a 737 Max five days into the year.

Boeing’s Stephanie Pope gives a press conference at the Paris Le Bourget Airport, on June 20, 2023.
Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt | AFP | Getty Images

LONDON — Boeing’s output of 737 Max planes is showing signs of improvement, the new head of its commercial unit said ahead of a major air show on Sunday, while admitting that the manufacturer has “disappointed” customers with delayed planes.
Boeing is trying to get past several safety and manufacturing crises, including the midair door plug blow out in January, which have slowed deliveries of planes to airlines and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to increase its oversight of the storied manufacturer.

Stephanie Pope, in her first press conference since taking over the key role at the troubled aircraft manufacturer in March, reiterated that Boeing has committed to increasing production of the Max to 38 a month. Production slipped into the mid-20s per month in the first half of the year, analysts have said.
Pope said Boeing is on the right path to improving its manufacturing quality, safety and predictability of deliveries, a “transformational change” that she said will take years.
“It still doesn’t take away the reality that we’ve disappointed” our customers, she said at a press conference before the Farnborough Airshow, outside of London. “We’ve impacted their business and we haven’t met the commitments and lived up to being the partner that they expect and they need us to be.”
Boeing has unveiled a host of goals aimed at getting it back on the right path, like improving worker training and manufacturing processes, among others. In the spring it delivered an improvement plan to the FAA that the agency ordered after the blowout in January.
“This plan is not a three month plan,” said Pope. “I call it transformational because some of these actions will take years.”

As part of the leadership shakeup that promoted Pope to head the commercial unit, Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said he would step down by year’s end.
When asked whether she was interested in the role, Pope said she is focused on the commercial unit’s recovery.
“That is my priority,” she said.
Boeing’s problems aren’t limited to its commercial program, however. Its defense unit has also been grappling with delays, including of the money-losing and delayed modification of two Boeing 747s that will serve as the next two Air Force One aircraft.

Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are assembled at the company’s plant in Renton, Washington, U.S. June 25, 2024. 
Jennifer Buchanan | Via Reuters

The CEO of that unit, Ted Colbert, said Boeing continues “to fight through some of the challenges that really stemmed from challenges in the supply chain.”
Boeing reports quarterly results on July 31 and is set to report charges from that unit, Colbert said at the same press conference.

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Air travel disruptions persisted on Saturday as carriers worked to recover from Friday’s IT outage.
More than 2,800 flights were canceled worldwide on Saturday, more than 2,100 of them in the U.S., according to flight aware.
The sudden outage sparked chaos in airports around the global with thousands of travelers stranded.

The United Airlines terminal on July 19, 2024 as a global technology outage affected LAX airport in Los Angeles. 
Myung J. Chun | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images

Flight cancellations and delays continued on Saturday as airlines worked to recover from a global IT outage sparked chaos at airports and for other industries a day earlier.
More than 2,800 flights were canceled on Saturday, with over 2,100 of them in the United States, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. More than 8,600 U.S. flights were delayed.

On Friday, more than 5,000 flights were canceled worldwide, with about 3,400 in the U.S. Nearly 13,000 U.S. flights were delayed.
The disruptions on Fwere similar to severe weather like a winter or tropical storm but airlines had no time to prepare for the outage, leaving them scrambling to accommodate customers ahead of a summer weekend.
A software update from CrowdStrike that went awry led to a major outage of Microsoft systems for businesses around the world.
Delta Air Lines canceled about 36% of its Saturday flights up from 32% a day earlier. Airlines waived fare differences and fees for affected customers.
American Airlines cancelled just 44 flights on Saturday, or 1% of its mainline operation, down from 11% a day earlier, the fastest recovery of the major U.S. carriers.

“Our customer is at the center of everything we do, and we thank them for their patience as our team worked together around the clock to return to normal operations just one day after the global outage,” American said in a statement.
About 15% of United’s mainline flights were canceled on Saturday, down from 22% on Friday, according to FlightAware data.
“Most of our technology systems have been restored and our reliability is improving, although we will continue to see cancellations and delays this weekend,” United said.
How much customers with impacted flights will be reimbursed for additional expenses like meals or hotels depends on the airline’s specific policy.
But customers are entitled to a refund for a canceled flight if they do not choose to travel on an alternate flight or accept a voucher.
“I am hearing reports of some airlines only offering flight credits to passengers for cancelled flights,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post on Saturday. “Let me be clear — you are entitled to get your money back promptly if your flight is cancelled and you don’t take a rebooking.”
— CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.

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A slew of airlines and airports said Friday that their operations would be impacted on one of the busiest flight days of the year.
As of 3 p.m. in London, 3,343 flights had been canceled globally, analytics firm Cirium said.
Global organizations, including Microsoft, were left scrambling to restore apps and services used by a huge number of firms following a system issue at cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike.

Crowds are seen building up at Suvarnabhumi Airport as a global IT disruption caused by a Microsoft outage and a Crowdstrike IT problem combine to affect users on July 19, 2024 in Bangkok, Thailand. 
Mailee Osten-tan | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Several airlines halted flights on Friday, while others warned of delays and service disruptions as an unprecedented IT outage impacted global operations.
Early on Friday, cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike experienced a major disruption linked to a tech update. Organizations including Microsoft were left scrambling to restore apps and services used by a huge number of firms.

Flight update and check-in monitors at airports around the world displayed the so-called blue screen of death, indicating a Microsoft system error. Images shared to social media showed a whiteboard displaying flight updates at Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland, and a handwritten boarding pass for a flight with India’s IndiGo.
“It seems that for the first time we are facing a real global blackout. … The disruption affected not only individual users, but especially large institutions such as banks (including central banks), stock exchanges, airports, paralysing operations during the peak holiday season and causing chaos in many other sectors,” Grzegorz Drozdz, market analyst at Conotoxia, said in emailed comments.
Over 38,000 flights had been delayed globally as of about 5 p.m. ET Friday, with roughly 9,200 of those delays within, into or out of the United States, according to FlightAware data. More than 4,200 flights had been canceled, with roughly 2,650 of them U.S. flights.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that he expects the transportation delays to be smoothed out and “resembling normal” by Saturday.
“The issue has been identified. It’s really a matter of the kind of ripple or cascade effects as they get everything in their networks back to normal,” Buttigieg said. “These flights, they run so tightly, so back-to-back that even after a root cause is addressed, you can still be feeling those impacts throughout the day.”

A global IT outage is affecting airports across the globe on July 19th, 2024.
Kevin Breuninger | CNBC

Airlines across Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia issued updates outlining the suspected extent of the impact on their flight schedules and wider services, with passengers advised to check their flight status.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said at 10:22 a.m. ET: “The FAA continues to work closely with airlines as they work to resume normal operations. Ground stops and delays will be intermittent at various airports as the airlines work through residual technology issues.”
American Airlines said that as of 5 a.m. ET it had been able to “safely reestablish our operation.” The carrier also said, “We expect there will be impact to our flight schedule today, including delays and cancellations.”
Delta and United both said they had resumed some flight departures but expected delays and cancelations through Friday. All three airlines issued waivers to allow customers to change their travel plans.
Colby Black, 45, took the delays in stride, even though he wasn’t sure when his rescheduled flight to Los Angeles would take off.
“It says 8 a.m. on the board, but 9 a.m. on my app, so who knows,” he said of the flight that was originally set to depart at 6 a.m. “I’m just tired. I want to sleep,” said Black, who woke up at 3 a.m. “But otherwise, yeah, it happens.”

Travellers wait at check-in counters at Berlin Airport during an IT outage that has disrupted airline services here and worldwide on July 19, 2024 in Schoenefeld, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images

In Europe, Dutch airline KLM said its IT issues had been “almost completely resolved” and that air traffic to and from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport could be “fully resumed” after most of KLM’s operations were suspended in the morning.
However, the carrier added that many flights had been delayed or canceled and that disruption would continue through the evening and into the weekend, with more cancellations possible.
KLM’s partner carrier Air France said late Friday afternoon that its operations were “back to normal on the entire network,” after only certain flights to Amsterdam and Berlin were affected during the day, but that delays could not be ruled out.
Germany’s Lufthansa was only “slightly affected” by the global outage, it said, with the biggest impact on Berlin, Amsterdam and Zurich routes. Low-cost German airline Eurowings, part of the same group, said it planned to operate around 80% of its flights, with most cancellations on domestic routes.
During the morning, Swiss air navigation service provider Skyguide said it had reduced the capacity of Swiss transit traffic by 30% as a precautionary measure after it was affected by the disruption.

Busiest day for UK flights

U.K. carriers British Airways and Virgin Atlantic both said some flight disruption was expected on Friday.
Aviation analytics firm Cirium said Friday, July 19, was set to be the busiest day of flights of the year, with the highest number of daily departures scheduled — 3,214 — since October 2019.
As of 5 p.m. in London, 4,295 flights had been canceled globally, Cirium said, which equates to 3.9% of all scheduled flights globally.
London airports Gatwick and Heathrow both said they were continuing to manageissues and delays were expected. Gatwick said the issues spanned “some airlines’ check-in systems and security, including eGates.”
Self-check-in systems went down temporarily at numerous airports Friday, including Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport, Singapore’s Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport.
Mainland Chinese airlines such as Air China and China Southern were not impacted as they use a different system, Reuters reported, citing state media.
— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger, Leslie Josephs and Ece Yildirim and NBC News’ Carlo Angerer contributed reporting.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct a time reference. More

Elliott has taken a big stake in Starbucks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
It is engaging with management to find ways to improve performance at the struggling coffee chain, the report said.
Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan is under pressure to turn around the company after disappointing quarterly results.

A Starbucks coffee shop in Amsterdam.
Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Elliott Management has taken a significant stake in coffee chain Starbucks and is engaging with management to find ways to improve the company’s share price, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Representatives for Elliott declined to comment. The firm did not hold a Starbucks stake as of March 31, its most recent disclosure.

A Starbucks spokesperson said the company does not comment on rumors and speculation. Starbucks shares jumped more than 6% Friday.
Elliott is one of the most prolific activist investors and one of the largest hedge funds in the world. The firm has taken up a number of sizable positions in recent months, including stakes at Southwest, SoftBank, Johnson Controls and Texas Instruments.
The Journal could not learn the size of Elliott’s position nor its specific demands, but noted it was possible a settlement could be reached.
Starbucks contended with an activist effort from its own workers unions earlier this year. That effort, off the back of an organization effort that began in 2021, ended with the Strategic Organizing Center withdrawing its candidates. Conversations between management and labor are ongoing.
Starbucks has been facing challenges for several quarters and has undergone a series of leadership changes in recent years. In April, the company reported disappointing quarterly results, with U.S. same-store sales falling 3% and traffic dropping 7%. The coffee chain also cut its 2024 outlook.

Starbucks reported rates of incomplete mobile app orders in the mid-teens and said occasional customers came in less often.
CEO Laxman Narasimhan, now under heightened pressure, has mentioned the need to make improvements to stores.
Narasimhan was hand-picked by returnee Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to lead the company after his prior successor, Kevin Johnson, stepped down. Schultz recently weighed in on Starbuck’s challenges, but has said he does not plan to return as CEO for a fourth stint.
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the Strategic Organizing Center withdrew its candidates for the Starbucks board of directors. A previous version mischaracterized the events. More