Business

IMAX is rapidly gaining market share and poised for growth in the coming years.
CEO Rich Gelfond is forecasting a $1.2 billion year for the company, which would be a record for the 55-year-old business. Wall Street analysts expect 2026 will be even better.
The company has around 1,700 screens worldwide and contracts to build about 500 more.

General atmosphere during an IMAX private screening for the movie “First Man” at an AMC theater in New York City on Oct. 10, 2018.
Lars Niki | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images

More than a year before “F1: The Movie” would eventually hit theaters, Apple struck a deal with IMAX.
The studio secured the use of IMAX’s camera technology as well as a three-week release in its theaters, a partnership that helped the film generate nearly $300 million globally in its first 10 days in cinemas.

More than 20% of that haul came from IMAX screenings. In the U.S. and Canada, the company’s theaters have accounted for 25% of all domestic ticket sales for the film. That feat is made even more impressive by the fact that IMAX screens represent less than 1% of the total movie screens worldwide.
Two other films released this year have exceeded 20% market share for the company — Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.”
It’s a sign of strength for IMAX’s place in the rapidly evolving film industry.
IMAX has long been a coveted destination for theatrical releases, but as consumer tastes continue to shift toward premium experiences, it’s quickly gaining market share and poised for exponential growth in the coming years.
CEO Rich Gelfond is forecasting a $1.2 billion year at the global box for the company, which would be 33% higher than 2024’s haul and a record for the 55-year-old business. Wall Street analysts expect 2026 will be even better.

“Post-pandemic a lot of activities, especially event activities, have really done well [for] premium brands,” Gelfond told CNBC. “You look at concerts, ticket prices went up. Premium seats have gone up. You look at sporting events, same kind of thing. Broadway. I think people, although they enjoy staying at home, streaming and watching streaming products, when they go out of the home, they want something sufficient distinguished from that.”
Investors have rallied behind IMAX stock. Shares of the company are up roughly 60% in the last 12 months.

IMAX screens are notably larger than standard movie screens and the theaters feature immersive audio systems. The company doesn’t just screen movies, many of the films that appear in IMAX were shot using cameras and technology developed by the company specifically tailored to the IMAX viewing experience.
“This year, we have eight movies in a row in North America that were filmed with IMAX cameras, and typically the box office goes higher when you shoot with the cameras,” Gelfond said. “And there’s a couple reasons for that. One, it’s a better way of watching it and listening to it. But also, the filmmakers typically get behind it more, and they tell their audiences that it’s the best way to see their work. And I think that’s a powerful impetus for audiences to go to IMAX.”
These “filmed for IMAX” titles include features like Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” films and even the latest “Mission: Impossible” flick from Tom Cruise.
Tickets to see a film in IMAX typically cost a few dollars more than standard movie tickets, which can help to boost a box office haul.
“The more ‘filmed for IMAX’ titles, the more outperformance you seen on the film for IMAX titles,” said Alicia Reese, analyst at Wedbush. “The better the margins are going to be. As you see margins improve in 2025, you’re going to see not just better quality title signings in 2026, but what I expect to see is that the studios will take more ownership of the marketing campaigns with even greater upside.”

General views of the TCL Chinese Theatre promoting the new Tom Cruise film ‘Mission: Impossible The Final Reckoning’ in IMAX on May 23, 2025 in Hollywood, California.
Aaronp/bauer-griffin | Gc Images | Getty Images

Roth’s Eric Handler said that IMAX has a “high-class problem of too much content availability.”
The “F1” deal for three weeks of screen programming meant that Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” got edged out: the film missed out on a domestic IMAX release and was only featured on IMAX screens in China. That film will also appear in IMAX screens in Japan next month.
Domestically, the movie slate is strong is 2025 and 2026, with a number of major franchise film releases on the books. Warner Bros.’ “Superman” hits theaters Friday, and coming soon is Disney and Marvel’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps.” Then Universal’s “Wicked: For Good” arrives ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and Disney’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” hits theaters just before Christmas.
2026 kicks off with Amazon’s “Project Hail Mary” and will also feature a new Avengers film, the first theatrical Star Wars release since 2019, a sequel to “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” a live-action “Moana” as well as “Toy Story 5” and “Shrek 5.” And also in the mix is Nolan’s next feature film “The Odyssey.”
New Hollywood releases are just one piece of IMAX’s box office success.
“Not only are they benefiting from Hollywood’s recovery, they’re also taking advantage of the global footprint and showing local language movies in China, in Japan and South Korea and parts of Europe,” said Eric Handler, analyst at Roth.
He noted that “Ne Zha 2,” a Chinese release that has generated more than $2 billion in global ticket sales, was a particularly strong local language film for IMAX. The company generated nearly $170 million in receipts from screening the film.
And there’s still room for IMAX to grow.
The company currently has around 1,700 screens worldwide, around 400 of which are in North America. Gelfond told CNBC that the company has contracts to build about 500 more IMAX screens.
He said the company would share more specific details during its earnings report, which is due to be released later this month.
“We signed almost as many new theaters this year as we signed for the whole year last year,” Gelfond said. “So there’s a lot of growth.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

Philanthropy is facing a crisis with the tax-and-spending bill targeting wealthy donors and the social safety net.
Iconiq, the wealth manager that counts Mark Zuckerberg as a client, gets entrepreneurs to band together to tackle global issues like climate change.
Iconiq’s Matti Navellou told CNBC that the firm has gotten $900 million out the door in less than a decade and described how the process works.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Square CEO Jack Dorsey.
Manuel Orbegozo | Handout | Reuters

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Even as tax changes may reduce giving by the wealthy, a leading investment firm is pioneering a new model of philanthropy that could spur big donors to act now.

Iconiq Capital, which started in Silicon Valley with clients like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, has created collaborative philanthropy funds to jump-start giving. These so-called co-labs pool clients’ capital to make multiyear grants to a group of nonprofits focused on causes like climate equity and economic mobility. 
The most recent co-lab targets youth mental health and has raised $112 million from 10 families, with a goal of $200 million by the end of the year. Iconiq Impact, the firm’s charitable giving arm, has advised on nearly $900 million in grants over six years, mostly through the co-labs.
Iconiq Impact head Matti Navellou joined the San Francisco-based firm from UNICEF six years ago. She built the co-lab program after hearing that clients wanted to learn about philanthropy from their peers.
“It is a really lonely journey, and it’s hard to find peers at the same wealth level who are struggling with the same type of challenges,” she said. “How do you navigate the amount of people constantly pitching you? And how do you know where to focus?”
The nonprofit sector’s woes are compounded by President Donald Trump’s tax bill, which reduces tax incentives for wealthy donors and makes steep cuts to social safety net programs. Nonprofit groups, including the 30,000-member strong National Council of Nonprofits, said charities will have fewer dollars at their disposal while their services are more needed.

Navellou said charitable giving is more crucial than ever due to slashed federal funding. 
“There are so many areas where, truly, philanthropy can move the needle right now, and so this structure that has been set up is problematic because it doesn’t actually incentivize accountability for spending that money for what it is designed for, which is funding nonprofits,” said Navellou. “We aim to influence the faster movement of dollars out the door.”
Time is of the essence, but most Iconiq clients are busy founders who have little time to focus on philanthropy and have yet to build foundations, Navellou said. Foundations aren’t necessarily built for speed either, she said, as they are only required to donate 5% a year. Donor-advised funds are a popular low-effort option, but they aren’t obligated to disburse funds to charity.
The co-labs allow clients to direct funds to charities quicker and with less effort. Iconiq develops a “portfolio” of charities in concert with clients after a series of in-person and Zoom gatherings with fellow funders and outside experts on causes of interest. After weeks of conversations, Iconiq develops the “portfolio” with the funders’ blessing and takes care of the rest.
“What this does is it enables them to just move money much faster when they are in that time period of their life running companies,” Navellou said. 

Matti Navellou, head of ICONIQ Impact, speaks with donors at the Ocean Co-Lab Community Retreat in Monterey, CA.
Courtesy of Matti Navellou

Getting donors to trust not only Iconiq but also the charities, rather than micromanaging how the funds are allocated, is key to the process, she said. The multiyear, unrestricted grants allow charity leaders to focus on the work rather than the fundraising, she added. 
Bill Smith, founder and CEO of grantee Inseparable, said flexible funding allows nonprofits to adapt to a volatile policy climate. Inseparable is one of 25 nonprofits in the youth mental health co-lab, receiving about $1.3 million a year for five years starting this past December.
“One of the hardest things when you’re running an organization, especially an advocacy organization, where we have changing circumstances with different administrations and what’s going on in states all over the country — the flexibility of having unrestricted money lets us go where we need to go and do what we need to do without constraints from a funder,” he said.
Looking forward, Navellou said she wants to scale Iconiq Impact’s giving, which is made easier with collaborative contributions. Donors who aren’t Iconiq clients are welcome to participate in the co-labs, but funders are generally required to donate a single-digit million sum annually over three to five years, she said. 
After Iconiq’s charity portfolios are designed, they are “open source,” she said, meaning other donors can follow on with commitments of as little as $250,000 a year. It’s convenient for younger entrepreneurs who want to dip their toes in philanthropy, she said.

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The great wealth transfer may be promising for philanthropy, Navellou said. She has noticed that the young adult children of Iconiq clients are quicker to act and care more about measurable impact rather than specific causes.
“There’s certainly a young cohort that do think about philanthropy differently, and I would say, are much more impatient around changing things and leveraging that capital in different ways, including through impact investing,” she said. “And I’d say they’re also issue agnostic, which is really interesting. They often will ask questions around data and letting the data inform and guide what they do, rather than coming to the table and saying, ‘I really want to move the needle on this issue.'”
Women are expected to receive about 70% of the $124 trillion that will pass down over the next 25 years, according to Cerulli Associates. This also bodes well for charitable giving, Navellou said. 
“What we’ve seen anecdotally, although there is data backing this as well, is that women tend to be more generous,” she said. “One area that’s really exciting is just a lot more female led philanthropy. We’re seeing that, and we’re really excited to build on that momentum that we’re seeing.” More

Patrick Mahomes spoke to CNBC Sport about his coffee habit and what drew him to investing in Throne Sport Coffee.
He’s also a minority owner in multiple sports teams and said he would be interested in a stake in the Chiefs one day.
He said players will need more rest if the NFL changes its season to 18 games from 17.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has added “coffee entrepreneur” to his already packed resume.
The three-time Super Bowl champion has invested in Throne Sport Coffee, adding to the 29-year-old superstar’s portfolio off the field.

As his Chiefs and the rest of the NFL gear up for the upcoming season, Mahomes spoke to CNBC about his interest in coffee, his growing investment portfolio in sports properties, stadium politics in Kansas City and his take on an 18-game NFL season.

Investing in his coffee habit

Patrick Mahomes is a top investor in Throne Sport Coffee.
Courtesy of Throne Sport Coffee

Mahomes became the second largest investor in Throne Sport Coffee in May 2024, with an undisclosed stake.
Today, he’s not only an investor, but also the brand’s lead pitchman and product tester — and a daily drinker.
“It actually started in my first year in the NFL,” Mahomes told CNBC of his coffee habit. “I was in a lot of meetings, and coffee became a functional need. But then I started to really love it, especially black coffee.”
When CEO, founder and beverage industry veteran Mike Fedele approached him with a ready-to-drink option designed to be a healthier caffeine boost, he said it felt like a natural fit for him.

“I really fell in love with just the taste and trying to make sure that what I was putting into my body was good,” he said.
Fedele, who has worked with major brands like Coca-Cola and BodyArmor, said Throne stands out because it has 10 grams of protein and 40% less sugar than competitors. Throne coffee has about 50 calories in it with 1 gram of sugar.
For comparison, a ready-to-drink Starbucks Frappuccino can have as many as 300 calories and 47 grams of sugar.
“Given how frequently people that care about what they’re putting into their bodies consume coffee, I felt there needed to be a better for you option,” he said.
Mahomes said his daily caffeine habit includes three coffees a day: one when he wakes up, another before meetings, and a third ahead of afternoon prep.
“It’s probably too much,” he laughed, “but with Throne, I know I’m putting something clean in my body, no junk, no sugar, and added electrolytes, and B vitamins.”
On game days? He said he tones it down to just one or two.
The ready-to-drink coffee market is a rapidly growing category. Americans spent $17.7 billion on the category in 2023, according to Technomic.
Despite its growth prospects, Throne is competing in a crowded coffee space, with coffee shop competitors rounding out their ready-to-drink offering. Starbucks announced this week that it is expanding its ready-to-drink lineup, citing the latest consumer trends and growth of the category.

Mahomes’ expanding investment playbook

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is competing for his 3rd Super Bowl ring.
Jamie Squire | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

Throne is just one part of Mahomes’ growing investment portfolio. The three-time Super Bowl MVP also holds minority stakes in MLB’s Kansas City Royals, Sporting Kansas City of the MLS and the NWSL’s KC Current, along with Alpine F1.
“I love sports. I love how they bring people together: families, communities. That’s what I want to invest in,” Mahomes said.
So does that mean he’s eyeing a future ownership stake in the Chiefs?
“That would be cool,” he said. “Hopefully a long time from now, but yeah, I’d love to be a part of the team after I’m done playing. They’ve done so much for me.”

Stadium politics and the business of football

The Chiefs’ stadium future is still undecided, as the franchise is deciding whether to renovate Arrowhead Stadium or build a new stadium in Kansas. Mahomes didn’t say where he would prefer the team to play.
“Arrowhead is special. You feel the history. But wherever we play, the fans will show up,” he said.
The Chiefs were recently granted a one-year extension to make a decision on their future stadium.
On leaguewide issues, Mahomes said he’s cautious about proposals for an 18-game NFL season and international expansion, including the Chiefs’ Week 1 game in Brazil.
“More games are tough on the body. If we’re going to go to 18, we need more bye weeks. Same with international games, planning matters.” More

Levi Strauss anticipates its sales and profits will grow more than it had expected this year — as long as tariffs don’t get any higher.
The jeans maker issued guidance that incorporated the new 30% tariff on Chinese imports, where Levi’s does little manufacturing, and 10% on the rest of the world, which is expected to change.
CEO Michelle Gass told CNBC the company is doing what it can to absorb costs to avoid steep price increases.

Workers perfom their duties at the Nien Hsing Textile factory, a global manufacturer of Levi’s jeans, on the outskirts of Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, a small Southern African kingdom that U.S. President Donald Trump ridiculed last month, April 4, 2025. 
Siphiwe Sibeko | Reuters

Levi Strauss raised its full-year guidance Thursday and said it’s working to absorb some of the costs it’s facing from higher tariffs, but that could change as President Donald Trump’s trade policy evolves. 
The denim maker doesn’t disclose its key manufacturing hubs, but much of its supply comes from Southeast Asia. Many countries in the region have been targeted by Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariff plan. 

Levi’s is currently expecting its full-year adjusted earnings to be between $1.25 to $1.30 per share, up from a prior forecast of between $1.20 and $1.25 and better than the $1.23 analysts had expected, according to LSEG. However, that forecast only assumes a 30% tariff on China, where Levi’s manufactures about 1% of its products, and a 10% tariff on the rest of the world, which could change as Trump negotiates trade deals with key manufacturing regions. 
In an interview with CNBC, Levi’s finance chief Harmit Singh said most of Levi’s sourcing is from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Trump in recent days threatened Bangladesh and Indonesia with duties of more than 30%. It’s unclear how much of Levi’s products are sourced from those regions, and 60% of Levi’s business is outside of the U.S. 
For now, Levi’s said it’s planning to absorb what it can. As policy currently stands, it anticipates tariffs will only impact the business by $25 million to $30 million for the rest of the year, or 2 to 3 cents on earnings per share. 
“We are doing our part. We are absorbing some of the costs. What helps is that our business is so strong,” said CEO Michelle Gass. “We have been pulling back on promotions anyway, that’s leading to more full-price selling, and some of our new innovation, our new fits, we’re pricing at a premium, and they’re buying. So all of those things help us navigate this time of having the tariff headwind.” 
When asked by an analyst if Levi’s should have raised its guidance during such an uncertain time for the economy, Singh said the company expects its consumer to keep spending.

“Given that we’ve had three quarters of high single digit growth, we see the momentum continuing, because the consumer … is generally resilient and a continued fan of the brand,” he said.
Beyond tariffs, Levi’s delivered fiscal second quarter earnings that beat expectations on the top and bottom lines. Here’s how the jeans company did compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

Earnings per share: 22 cents adjusted vs. 13 cents expected
Revenue: $1.45 billion vs. $1.37 billion expected

Levi’s shares rose about 8% in extended trading.
The company’s reported net income for the three-month period that ended June 1 was $67 million, or 17 cents per share, compared with $18 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time charges related to restructuring and impairment expenses, among other costs, Levi posted earnings per share of 22 cents. 
Sales rose to $1.45 billion, up about 6% from $1.36 billion a year earlier. 
Given strong demand, Levi’s raised its full-year revenue guidance and now expects sales to rise between 1% and 2%, up from previous guidance of down 1% to 2%. That range is well ahead of expectations. Analysts had expected revenue to decline by 5.2%, according to LSEG. 
Levi’s did cut its gross margin guidance by 0.2 percentage points, and now expects gross margin to grow by 0.8 percentage points because of the impact tariffs are having on profits. 
For its current quarter, Levi expects sales to be up between 3% and 4%, well ahead of expectations of a 4.6% decline, according to LSEG. It expects earnings per share to be between 28 cents and 30 cents, roughly in line with expectations of 30 cents, according to LSEG.
Since Gass took over as the retailer’s CEO, she’s worked to cut off underperforming parts of the business. In May, the company announced it would sell its Dockers brand to Authentic Brands Group.
She’s also worked to drive direct sales to consumers, focused on e-commerce and stores rather than wholesale partners like Macy’s and Kohl’s, because it comes with higher margins and gives the company better insights into its customers. 
“We are operating with greater rigor and discipline and really infusing the entire company with a [direct-to-consumer] first mindset,” said Gass on a call with analysts. “Our owned and operated channels represent over half of our business, and they continue to deliver consistent, healthy comps alongside improving profitability.”
While e-commerce comes with better data insights into shoppers, it can be a costly and complex channel to operate and it’s tough for some companies to make money from digital sales. That was true for Levi’s too, but online sales are now profitable because it’s able to leverage its costs better through scale, Singh told analysts.
During the quarter, Levi’s gross margin reached what it called a record 62.6%, driven by fewer markdowns, lower product costs and 11% growth in direct sales. 
Levi’s, which has long catered to a male shopper, is also trying to win over female consumers and expand from a denim company to one known for a wide range of apparel. During the quarter, it saw wins from those efforts, with revenue for women’s apparel up 14% and sales of tops up 16%. Levi’s women’s category is the retailer’s “highest gross margin business,” said Singh.
“The consumer is definitely responding and voting for this direction. So as we look ahead, we’re confident,” Gass told CNBC. “We know that there’s uncertainty in the world right now, but the consumer is proving quite resilient for Levi’s.” 
At the core of Levi’s strategy is ensuring it’s still relevant with consumers. A recent partnership with Beyonce has helped the company stay top of mind with shoppers, especially as the singer continues her Cowboy Carter tour.In May, the company launched a limited-edition drop of Beyonce x Levi’s T-shirts, the first product to come from the collaboration.It also started a partnership with Nike, which went live on Thursday on Levi’s website and some of its stores. The collection includes a denim-inspired take on the Air Max 95. More

Varda Space Industries closed its latest round of funding, bringing the total capital raised to $329 million.
The space startup is planning to launch a fifth orbit by the end of the year.
Varda’s main mission is to launch and return drugs made in space.

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Space startup Varda announced on Thursday that it has raised $187 million in Series C funding, led by venture capital firms Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, to continue advancing drug manufacturing in space.
The latest round included participation from Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures and Caffeinated Capital. It brought the total capital Varda’s raised to $329 million.

“By expanding, we can support work on more complex molecules and ultimately increase cadence to achieve the turnaround times the pharmaceutical industry expects,” Chief Science Officer Adrian Radocea said in a press release Thursday.

Follow and listen to CNBC’s “Manifest Space” podcast, hosted by Morgan Brennan, wherever you get your podcasts.

Varda’s main mission is to launch and return drugs made in space. The startup has said the medicines crystallize differently in orbit due to the gravity differences, which would allow it to complete drugs that are currently difficult to manufacture.
“And so what this series C allows us to do is two big things. First is increase cadence, meaning more flights more often, so the rate of flying,” Varda CEO Will Bruey told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan for the “Manifest Space” podcast. “And also allows us to build out our biologics lab, which is our way of determining which drug molecules make sense to send a microgravity through a bunch of testing on the ground and then preparing that formulation for flight.”
In 2024, the space startup’s W-Series 1 capsule received FAA approval to return after successfully creating the drug Ritonavir the previous year.
So far, Varda said the company has been able to complete three space launches. Now, a fourth is in orbit, and the company expects to launch a fifth by the end of the year. Varda makes all of its parts in house.

“With this capital, Varda will continue to increase our flight cadence and build out the pharmaceutical lab that will deliver the world’s first microgravity-enabled drug formulation,” Bruey said.
Varda Space Industries is the first company to process materials outside the International Space Station.
Recently, the space company has also operated a testbed for the U.S. government to use the W-series reentry vehicles to advance technology.
Varda said it has expanded into Huntsville, Alabama, and opened a laboratory in El Segundo, California, to begin work to crystallize more drugs.
“Our new lab space is an investment in our belief that in-space pharmaceutical manufacturing will drive the foundation of the orbital economy,” Radocea said.
Correction: Varda makes all of its parts in house and is based out of Hunstville, Alabama. A previous version of this story misstated the system. More

Delta Air Lines is studying how to segment its premium cabins.
The airline could offer different options that are similar to changes it’s made in the coach cabin.
Other airlines offer more spacious seats within business class and first class.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines is studying new types of airplane tickets — this time in the premium cabins at the front of the plane.
Airlines spent years slicing up their coach cabins, from extra legroom seats to bare-bones basic economy fares that don’t allow changes or include a seat assignment. Delta was a pioneer in the U.S. when it launched basic economy fares over a decade ago with rivals United Airlines, American Airlines and others following suit.

But now airline executives are turning their focus to their premium cabins, where demand is holding up better this year than in the back of the plane.

Read more CNBC airline news

“Premium has certainly been where our margins have continued to expand, and so we’re highly focused on continuing to provide improved service to those customers and more segmentation,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein said on an earnings call with analysts on Thursday. “The segmentation that we’ve done in main cabin is kind of the template that we’re going to bring to all of our premium cabins over time because different people have different needs.”
Delta’s revenue from premium seats like business class rose 6% in the first half of the year to $10.6 billion, while main cabin economy ticket revenue dropped 4% to $11.7 billion. The carrier, the most profitable U.S. airline, has said for years that its share of sales from high-end seats and its lucrative loyalty program has been growing.

American Airlines new business-class suite.
American Airlines

U.S. carriers have largely ditched international first class in favor of larger business class cabins, where lie-flat seats have more amenities than seats of past decades.
Hauenstein declined to detail possible changes to the premium seats. It’s not clear whether Delta would consider a cheaper first- or business-class ticket that might not include perks like lounge access or seat assignments, or a potentially bigger seat that could come with add-ons that standard tickets don’t have.

But Hauenstein said Delta is testing some possibilities on customers and surveying travelers.
“We haven’t rolled it out yet, not because we don’t have the technological capability, but we want to make sure that customers understand what we’re putting in market and that they find value in it,” he said.
Henry Harteveldt, travel consultant and president of Atmosphere Research Group, said he’s not convinced that Delta would consider a stripped-down premium fare.
“Airplanes are expensive … and it’s a lot easier when you give your passengers a reason to pay you more for your product than to pay you less,” he said.

United Airlines new Polaris cabin configuration
United Airlines

Other airlines are working to outfit their top-tier cabins to offer a few seats that have extra room and even space for a visitor, like United’s planned update to its long-haul Polaris cabin and American’s new seats on some of its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Delta’s partner, Virgin Atlantic, offers the “Retreat Suite” at the front of its Airbus A330’s Upper Class cabin that can be converted “so up to four people can enjoy an intimate dinner together in their own private social space.”
When asked whether Delta will update some of its highest-end seats, CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC Wednesday that “the premium products have had life cycles … and what we thought was state of the art six or seven years ago no longer is.
“We’re continuing to upgrade and update it. So that’s part of the cost of business,” he said. “But our product will be very, very nice.” More

President Donald Trump plans to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports, which will hit coffee drinkers.
The U.S. imports most of its coffee from Brazil.
Coffee companies may try to mitigate the impact of the tariff by sourcing from other countries, but consumers will likely end up paying more for their java.

A person takes a coffee at a coffee shop in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 10, 2025.
Pilar Olivares | Reuters

President Donald Trump’s proposed 50% tariff on Brazilian imports is bad news for coffee drinkers.
Brazil, the largest U.S. supplier of green coffee beans, accounts for about a third of the country’s total supply, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Coffee beans need to grow in a warm, tropical climate, making Hawaii and Puerto Rico the only suitable places in the United States to farm the crop. But, as the world’s top consumer of coffee, the U.S. requires a massive supply to stay caffeinated. Mintel estimates that the U.S. coffee market reached $19.75 billion last year.
The increase in trade duties could leave consumers with even higher costs after several years of soaring coffee prices. Inflation-weary consumers have seen prices for lattes and cold brew climb as droughts and frost hit the global coffee supply, particularly in Brazil. Earlier this year, coffee bean futures hit all-time highs. They rose 1% on Thursday, although still well below the record set in February.
To be sure, there’s still time for Brazil to strike a deal with the White House before the tariffs go into effect on Aug. 1. Plus, food and beverage makers are hoping that the Trump administration will grant exemptions for key commodities. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in an interview in late June that the White House is considering exemptions for produce that can’t be grown in the U.S. — including coffee.
But if that doesn’t happen, coffee companies like Folgers owner J.M. Smucker, Keurig Dr Pepper, Starbucks and Dutch Bros will face much higher costs for the commodity. Giuseppe Lavazza, chair of Italian roaster Lavazza, said on Bloomberg TV on Thursday morning that the latest tariff could mean “a lot of inflation” for the coffee industry.
Roasters will try to mitigate the impact of the higher tariff, but it won’t be easy.

“Every company is always trying to eke out the next efficiency, to dial into their operations or find the way to minimize inflationary pressures, but a 50% tariff on a commodity that fundamentally is not available in the U.S. — you can’t really do much with that,” Tom Madrecki, vice president of supply chain and logistics for the Consumer Brands Association, a trade group that represents the consumer packaged goods industry.
One mitigation tactic could be to import beans from countries other than Brazil, but companies will likely still be paying more for the commodity.
“A characteristic of tariffs, especially when you have tariffs on multiple countries at once, is that not just the inbound cost rises. It allows the pricing floor to also rise,” Madrecki said. “If you have cheaper coffee in a country different than Brazil, you’re not inclined to sell it at a 30% lower cost. You’re going to try to bump your coffee up a bit more, too.”
At-home coffee brands, like JM Smucker’s Dunkin’ and Kraft Heinz’s Maxwell House, have already been hiking their prices this year in response to spiking commodity costs. More price increases could be on the way for consumers, although retailers may push back.
Keurig Dr Pepper would consider additional price hikes in the latter half of the year to mitigate the impact of tariffs, CEO Tim Cofer said in late April, after Trump introduced his initial round of so-called reciprocal duties.
And Smuckers warned investors on its quarterly conference call in early June that tariffs on coffee were weighing on its profits. Coffee accounts for roughly a third of the company’s revenue.
“Green coffee is an unavailable natural resource that cannot be grown in the continental United States due to its reliance on a tropical climate,” Smuckers CEO Mark Smucker said. “We currently purchase approximately 500 million pounds of green coffee annually, with the majority coming from Brazil and Vietnam, the two largest coffee-producing countries.”
Vietnam, which announced a tentative trade deal with the White House earlier this month, supplies about 8% of the U.S.’s green coffee beans. Under the agreement, the U.S. will impose a 20% duty on Vietnamese imports.
Consumers who prefer a caramel macchiato from Starbucks for their caffeine hit will likely see a more muted impact on their wallets.
After several quarters of sluggish U.S. sales, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said in late 2024 that the company wouldn’t raise prices in 2025, in the hopes of winning back customers who had complained about how expensive its drinks had gotten. While it waits for its turnaround to take hold, Starbucks might choose to swallow the higher coffee costs.
The coffee giant also benefits from its diversity — both in suppliers and the breadth of its menu, which now includes the popular Refreshers line. Starbucks imports its coffee from 30 different countries, and roughly 10% of its cost of goods sold in North America comes from coffee.
The new trade duty could mean a 0.5% increase in Starbucks’ North American cost of goods sold, assuming about 22% of its beans come from Brazil, TD Cowen analyst Andrew Charles wrote in a note to clients on Thursday. Starbucks’ packaged drinks, which are distributed by Nestle, could see their cost of goods sold increase 3.5%. Altogether, that represents a 5-cent drag on annual earnings per share, according to Charles.
For rival Dutch Bros, higher coffee costs also wouldn’t hurt its bottom line much. Coffee accounts for less than a tenth of the drive-thru coffee chain’s cost of goods sold. Assuming that Dutch Bros sources more than half of its coffee from Brazil, its cost of goods sold would rise just 1.3%, according to Charles’ estimates. More

Delta Air Lines’ third-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts topped estimates.
CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that bookings have stabilized after months of lower-than-expected demand.
But Delta expects 2025 adjusted earnings of between $5.25 and $6.25 a share, down from a January forecast of more than $7.35 a share.

A Boeing 767-332(ER) from Delta Air Lines takes off from Barcelona El Prat Airport in Barcelona on Oct. 8, 2024.
Joan Valls | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines reinstated its 2025 profit outlook Thursday and said it expects a stronger outlook for summer travel than Wall Street anticipated.
Bookings have stabilized after months of lower-than-expected demand, CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview, though at lower levels than the airline forecast at the start of the year.

Delta shares jumped 10% in premarket trading after releasing results. Other airlines’ shares also rose after Delta’s report.
“People are still traveling,” Bastian said. “What they’ve done is they’ve shifted their booking patterns a little bit. They’re holding off making plans until they’re a little closer in to their travel dates. And so that’s shifted some of our bookings and yield management strategies.”
That includes trimming capacity outside of top travel periods, as well as what Bastian described as “surgical” cuts after the peak summer travel season ends around mid-August.
Here’s how the company performed in the three months ended June 30, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on consensus estimates from LSEG:

Earnings per share: $2.10 adjusted vs. $2.05 expected
Revenue: $15.51 billion adjusted vs. $15.48 billion expected

Delta, the first of the U.S. airlines to report results, expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1.25 and $1.75 in the third quarter, compared with Wall Street analysts’ forecast for $1.31 a share. It also said it expects revenue that’s flat to up 4%, topping forecasts for a 1.4% sales increase.

Delta posted strong growth from sales of higher-priced seats like first class and from its lucrative American Express partnership, which increased 10% in the second quarter from the same period last year to $2 billion. Airlines have become more reliant on travelers who are willing to spend more to fly rather than more price-sensitive consumers.

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Corporate travel has also stabilized as Bastian said businesses have more clarity and confidence than they did earlier this year, but it’s in line with last year, not the 5% to 10% growth Delta expected at the start of the year.
While fares have dropped across the U.S., Delta’s premium-product revenue rose 5%, as sales from the main cabin fell 5% from last year. Its total revenue per seat mile, a measure of how much an airline is bringing in for the amount it flies, fell 4% in the second quarter.
The airline also cut its 2025 profit forecast from what it expected earlier this year.
Delta expects adjusted full-year earnings of $5.25 to $6.25 a share, down from a forecast in January of more than $7.35 a share, when Bastian predicted 2025 would be the carrier’s best year ever.
In April, Delta said it couldn’t reaffirm that forecast as on-again, off-again tariffs and hesitant consumers dented bookings. Rival U.S. carriers also pulled their guidance, and Delta and other airlines have announced plans to cut flights after the summer peak.
Bastian said Delta is prepared to continue updating its premium products.
“Whether it’s the Delta lounges or the quality of the product on board, the premium products have had life cycles … and what we thought was state of the art six or seven years ago no longer is,” he said. “We’re continuing to upgrade and update it.”
In the second quarter, Delta posted adjusted revenue of nearly $15.51 billion, up 1% from a year ago. Its net income in the three months ended June 30 totaled $2.13 billion, or $3.27 a share, up 63% on the year. That compares with net income of $1.3 billion, or $2.01 a share, in the same period last year. Adjusting for one-time items, its per-share net income was $1.37 billion, or $2.10 a share.

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