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    American Eagle issues downbeat quarterly guidance as earnings miss expectations

    American Eagle Outfitters reported quarterly earnings that missed expectations, reflecting a $75 million write-down in spring and summer merchandise.
    “The first quarter was a challenging period for our business,” said CEO Jay Schottenstein in a media release.
    The retailer pulled its full-year guidance earlier this month, citing “macroeconomic uncertainty.”

    A shopper walks past the American clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle store in Hong Kong.
    Budrul Chukrut | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    American Eagle Outfitters reported quarterly earnings on Thursday that missed expectations, reflecting a $75 million write-down in spring and summer merchandise, following the retailer pulling its full-year guidance earlier this month due to macroeconomic uncertainty.
    “The first quarter was a challenging period for our business,” CEO Jay Schottenstein said in a release. “While we are disappointed with the results, we are taking actions to better position the company and drive stronger performance in the upcoming quarters. Our brands remain resilient. The team is executing with urgency as we look to strengthen both the topline and profit flow-through.”

    The Pittsburgh retailer’s results do not come as a surprise for investors, considering it preannounced some of its results two weeks ago. At that time, it also announced it would withdraw its full-year guidance as it manages slow sales, steep discounting and a volatile macroeconomic environment.
    Shares fell about 8% in extended trading.
    Here’s how the apparel company did in its fiscal first quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Loss per share: 29 cents adjusted vs. loss of 22 cents expected
    Revenue: $1.09 billion vs. $1.09 billion expected

    Prior to the preannouncement, analysts had been expecting earnings per share to be an 11-cent profit.
    The company, which makes fashion clothing targeted at teens and young adults, reported an operating loss for the three-month period that ended May 3 of $85.18 million compared with a net income of $77.84 million a year earlier. 

    Excluding one-time charges related to restructuring and a supply chain optimization project, AEO posted an adjusted operating loss of $68.06 million. The loss also reflects “higher than planned” promotions and a write-off of $75 million in spring and summer merchandise.
    Revenue dropped to $1.09 billion, in line with expectations but down slightly from $1.14 billion a year earlier.
    Comparable sales were down 3% during the quarter, led by a 4% decline at the company’s intimates and activewear line, Aerie. The namesake brand saw comparable sales down 2%.
    AEO issued downbeat guidance for the second quarter, expecting revenue to be down 5% compared to an estimate of 4%, comparable sales down 3% and gross margin down year-over-year. Its operating income for the second quarter is expected to be between $40 million and $45 million.
    Schottenstein said during a conference call with investors on Thursday that he was “disappointed” by the first-quarter results. He said earlier this month that the $75 million write-off is due to miscalculated merchandising strategies resulting in excess inventory and higher promotions.
    Jennifer Foyle, president and executive creative director for AE & Aerie, said on Thursday’s call that the brand had misses on the merchandising product in a handful of key categories, which was compounded by a cool spring and a slow start to the quarter in February. She said shorts were a tough product across all AEO brands.
    “Some of our big fashion ideas for the season simply did not resonate with our customer,” Foyle said, discussing Aerie’s performance.
    Executives on the call repeatedly highlighted the company’s goal to be on track for the important back-to-school season later this year.
    American Eagle is not the only retailer to withdraw or modify financial guidance this year based on President Donald Trump’s ever-changing trade policy.
    E.l.f. Beauty, Canada Goose, Ross and Mattel all pulled their full-year guidance recently due to trade uncertainty. Other brands, like Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy’s have cut their profit outlooks.
    On Thursday’s call, CFO Michael Mathias said the company is on track to reduce its sourcing exposure to China to under 10% this year, with the fall and holiday season down to low single digits. He said the mitigated tariff impact to the full year is around $40 million, including a “couple million dollars” in the second quarter that is already embedded in the guidance, and the rest is spread out later in the year.
    During last quarter’s call with investors, CFO Michael Mathias said the company sources just under 20% of its products from China. He said then that tariffs could result in a $5 million to $10 million hit and could affect gross margin, although at the time he said the company was not planning on passing costs onto the consumer. On Thursday, the executives did not specify whether prices would be raised.
    According to AEO’s website, the company works with the greatest number of factories in China (101), Vietnam (67) and India (39). It works with just 12 factories in the United States.
    Before withdrawing its guidance, AEO warned back in March that shoppers are pulling back on spending.
    The company added Thursday that it is on track to complete its $200 million accelerated share repurchase program in the second quarter.
    As of Thursday’s close, AEO stock has fallen roughly 33% year-to-date. More

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    Boeing to resume airplane deliveries to China next month, ramp up Max production, CEO says

    Boeing could assess moving up production of its bestselling Max jets to 47 a month by the end of the year, its CEO said.
    The company also plans to resume deliveries of airplanes to Chinese airlines next month after a pause during a trade battle between the country the Trump administration.
    Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg largely brushed off the tariff impact and said he didn’t expect all the duties to be permanent.

    Boeing Co. 737 Max fuselages at the company’s manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, on April 15, 2025.
    Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Boeing’s airplane deliveries to China will resume next month after handovers were paused amid a trade war with the Trump administration, CEO Kelly Ortberg said Thursday, as he brushed off the impact of tit-for-tat tariffs with some of the United States’ largest trading partners this year.
    Ortberg had said last month that China had paused deliveries.

    “China has now indicated … they’re going to take deliveries,” Ortberg said. The first deliveries will be next month, he told a Bernstein conference on Thursday.
    Boeing, a top U.S. exporter whose output of airplanes helps soften the U.S. trade deficit, has been paying tariffs on imported components from Italy and Japan for its wide-body Dreamliner planes, which are made in South Carolina, Ortberg said, adding that much of it can be recouped when the planes are exported again.
    “The only duties that we would have to cover would be the duties for a delivery, say, to a U.S. airline,” he said.

    Read more CNBC airline news

    Regarding the rapidly changing trade policies that have included several pauses and some exemptions, Ortberg said, “I personally don’t think these will be … permanent in the long term.”
    He reiterated that Boeing plans to ramp up production this year of its bestselling 737 Max jet, which will require Federal Aviation Administration approval.

    The FAA capped output of the workhorse planes at 38 a month last year after a door plug that wasn’t secured when it left Boeing’s factory blew out midair in the first minutes of an Alaska Airlines flight.
    Ortberg said the company could produce 42 Max jets a month by midyear and assess moving up to 47 a month about half a year later.
    The company’s long-delayed Max 7 and Max 10 variants, the largest and smallest planes in the narrow-body family, are scheduled to be certified by the end of the year, he said.
    Many airline executives have applauded Ortberg’s leadership since he took the reins at Boeing last August, tasked with stemming years of losses and ending reputational and safety crises, including the impact of two fatal Max crashes.
    CEOs have long complained about delivery delays from the company that left them short of planes during a post-pandemic travel boom.
    “I do think Boeing has turned the corner,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” earlier Thursday. He said supply chain problems are limiting deliveries of new planes overall.
    “We over-ordered aircraft believing the supply chain would be challenged,” he said.

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    Non-alcoholic beer projected to overtake ale as the second-largest beer category worldwide this year

    Non-alcoholic beer is projected to overtake ale as the second-largest beer category worldwide this year, according to IWSR.
    Younger consumers have been drinking less alcohol, fueling the trend.
    Major beer brands like Guinness, Budweiser and Heineken have rolled out non-alcoholic alternatives over the last five years.

    Non-alcoholic beers photographed for Food in Washington, DC on March 11, 2024.
    Scott Suchman | The Washington Post | Getty Images

    Non-alcoholic beer is on track to overtake ale as the second-largest beer category by volume worldwide this year, according to a new projections from industry tracker IWSR.
    While overall beer volume fell roughly 1% in 2024, volume for its non-alcoholic counterpart grew 9% worldwide, according to IWSR. The category’s growth accelerated in 2018 and has continued to outstrip the broader beer market since then.

    IWSR is projecting that no-alcohol beer will grow by 8% annually through 2029, while ale’s volume is expected to slide 2% annually in that same period.
    Despite recent growth, no-alcohol beer is far from becoming the top-selling beer category globally and only holds about 2% of worldwide beer market share. With 92% market share, lager is far and away the largest beer category and still growing, albeit at a slower pace than non-alcoholic beer.
    No-alcohol beer has gained popularity as more consumers cut back on their alcohol consumption, prompting brewers to invest in zero-proof alternatives. The trend is particularly striking across younger age cohorts; Gen Z drinks less than prior generations at the same age, and millennials hold the largest share of no-alcohol drinkers, according to IWSR. Younger drinkers use buzzwords like “sober curious” and “damp lifestyle” to describe moderating their alcoholic intake, rather than abstaining entirely.
    Additional fuel for the trend comes from the companies making non-alcoholic beers, which have gotten better at mimicking the taste of their alcoholic twins. Practically every major beer brand, from Diageo’s Guinness to Heineken and Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser, has rolled out a zero-proof version over the last five years.
    Non-alcoholic beer’s worldwide retail sales surpassed $17 billion in 2023, according to Bernstein. Looking at global markets, Germany, Spain and Japan bought the most non-alcoholic beer that year. The U.S. landed in sixth place for its no-alcohol beer sales, although its ranking falls much further when measured by overall sales penetration.

    Much of the growth in the U.S. is fueled by Athletic Brewing, now the top-selling no-alcohol beer brand. The upstart, which was founded in 2018, holds 17% of the category’s volume share, edging out AB InBev’s Bud Zero and Heineken’s 0.0 version. Just three years earlier, Athletic held only a 4% share. The company was reportedly valued at roughly $800 million in its latest funding round in 2024.
    Even non-alcoholic beer hasn’t been immune from the rash of celebrity-backed alcohol brands. Actor Tom Holland launched Bero, retired basketball star Dwyane Wade co-founded Budweiser Zero with AB InBev and podcast host and actor Dax Shepherd created Ted Segers. More

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    Jeep reveals new Cherokee SUV, confirms hybrid model

    Jeep revealed the first details and image of its new Cherokee SUV, which the company expects to assist in the brand’s turnaround when it arrives later this year.
    The Stellantis brand said the new midsize SUV will feature a hybrid powertrain option.
    Jeep has reported six consecutive years of annual sales declines, with a 10% decline through the first quarter of this year.

    2025 Jeep Cherokee SUV
    Stellantis

    DETROIT — Jeep on Thursday revealed the first details and image of its new Cherokee SUV, which the company expects to assist in the brand’s turnaround when it arrives later this year.
    The Stellantis brand said the new midsize SUV will feature a hybrid powertrain option but declined to specify if it would be a traditional hybrid or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), which the company currently offers on several SUVs.

    “The all-new Jeep Cherokee headlines our efforts to deliver more product, innovation, choice and standard content to customers than ever before,” Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf said in a statement. “Jeep Cherokee will boast competitive pricing that strikes at the core of the largest vehicle segment and sits perfectly between Jeep Compass and Jeep Grand Cherokee to bolster our winning mainstream lineup.”
    Affordability has been a problem for Jeep sales amid price increases in recent years. An entry-level model of the Cherokee started around $30,000 for the 2022 model year, according to Cars.com. That is close to the current Jeep Compass at about $27,000. The 2025 Grand Cherokee starts at roughly $36,500.
    The company declined to release other details of the vehicle, including its production location. Analysts and union officials have said the new SUV is expected to be produced at a plant in Mexico — a decision that was made prior to President Donald Trump’s election and ongoing automotive tariffs of 25% on imported vehicles into the U.S.

    2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
    Source: Fiat Chrysler

    The last generation of the Cherokee was produced at a plant in Illinois, which has been idled since the vehicles was discontinued in early 2023 amid cost-cutting efforts and production realignments.
    The cancellation of the Cherokee and a smaller SUV called the Renegade after the 2023 model-year contributed to ongoing sales declines for the brand.

    Jeep, a coveted brand in the automotive industry, has reported six consecutive years of U.S. annual sales declines, with a 10% decline through the first quarter of this year.
    The SUV brand is expected to be a priority for incoming Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who was leading Jeep’s turnaround before being promoted last year to lead the company’s Americas region. More

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    United Airlines plans to return to JFK — again — in new partnership with JetBlue

    United and JetBlue announced a deal that allows the carriers to sell seats on each others’ flights and includes reciprocal frequent flyer benefits.
    It will also allow United to return, again, to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, as early as 2027.
    JetBlue has been eager to find an airline partner to better compete against bigger carriers, while United CEO Scott Kirby has long wanted to return to Kennedy Airport.

    United Airlines has a new friend in Queens.
    The airline plans to return to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport again, this time through a new partnership with JetBlue Airways.

    The partnership, called Blue Sky, will allow the airlines to sell seats on each other’s sites and let JetBlue customers earn frequent flyer miles on United and vice versa. It also includes reciprocal loyalty benefits like priority boarding and roomier seats for travelers with elite status. The deal is subject to regulatory review, the airlines said.
    Some aspects of the partnership, which the carriers announced Thursday, will begin as early as the fall, though the airlines didn’t provide exact timing. They also did not provide financial details of the deal.
    JetBlue’s leaders have long said they need a partnership to better compete against larger airlines like United and their shared rival Delta Air Lines, the most profitable U.S. carrier.
    United CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday that in addition to the JFK access, the airlines together will have the largest presence in Boston and that United will be able to extend its reach in Florida and the Caribbean, where JetBlue has a robust network. In turn, JetBlue loyalists will get access to United’s globe-spanning destinations.
    “It makes each airline more competitive,” Kirby said.

    Read more CNBC airline news

    The new partnership stops short of the flight coordination that JetBlue had in its former alliance in the Northeast with American Airlines, which was struck down by a federal court on antitrust grounds two years ago. Last year, a judge blocked JetBlue’s plan to buy struggling budget carrier Spirit.
    “This collaboration with United is a bold step forward for the industry — one that brings together twocustomer-focused airlines to deliver more choices for travelers and value across our networks,” JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said in a news release.

    United left JFK in 2015, and Kirby has called that a mistake because moving transcontinental flights to Newark, New Jersey, allowed American to win over some corporate clients. It briefly returned in 2021, thanks to a Covid-era lull in traffic at the airport, where capacity is normally tightly controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration.
    United left JFK again in 2022 because it wasn’t able to secure longer-term slots there.
    Kirby has repeatedly said he wants the airline to return to JFK. The carrier has struggled in recent weeks with air traffic staffing shortages and congestion at its Newark hub.
    Under the new agreement, United will be able to fly up to seven daily round-trip flights at congested Kennedy Airport, giving it more breadth in the New York City area, though the new operation will still be dwarfed by United’s main hub in the area at Newark Liberty International Airport.
    United’s JFK flights will begin in 2027 at the earliest, the carriers said. JetBlue, meanwhile, will get eight flights at Newark. United didn’t say which routes it plans to operate at JFK, though its last foray was for service to Los Angeles and San Francisco.
    They airlines called the swap a “net neutral exchange.” 

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    Best Buy cuts full-year sales and profit guidance as tariffs raise cost of electronics

    Best Buy posted better-than-expected first-quarter earnings but cut its outlook as President Donald Trump’s tariffs raise the cost of imported electronics.
    Earlier this year, CEO Corie Barry said the retailer will likely have to raise prices due to the duties.
    Best Buy joins other companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy’s in cutting its profit outlook this week due to tariffs.

    Logo of Best Buy displayed outside a Best Buy store in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, on March 22, 2025.
    Artur Widak | Nurphoto | Getty Images

    Best Buy on Thursday missed quarterly revenue expectations and cut its full-year sales and profit guidance as higher tariffs increase the costs of many consumer electronics that it sells.
    For its fiscal 2026, the retailer said it now expects $41.1 billion to $41.9 billion of revenue, down from its previous range of $41.4 billion to $42.2 billion. It said it expects adjusted earnings per share to range from $6.15 to $6.30, which compares to prior guidance of $6.20 to $6.60.

    On the company’s earnings call, CEO Corie Barry said the company’s outlook anticipates that tariffs will stay at the current levels and there is “no material change in consumer behavior from the trends we have seen in recent quarters.”
    “As you can imagine, and based on our history, we will continue to scenario-plan and adjust with agility as the situation evolves,” she said.
    Barry said Best Buy is increasing some prices to cover tariff-related costs, but called it “a last resort” after it takes other steps to offset higher expenses. She did not specify on the earnings call what items could end up costing consumers more.
    First-quarter earnings reports have highlighted just how disruptive Trump’s ever evolving trade policy has been to many U.S. companies that rely on a global supply chain. Best Buy joins other companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Macy’s in cutting its profit outlook this week due to tariffs. Other businesses, such as E.l.f. Beauty, have declined to provide full-year guidance because of the levies. 
    Barry pointed to Best Buy’s strategic priorities for the year that will help the company increase profits and control costs. She said the company aims to improve the customer experience to better connect its digital and in-store businesses, launch and grow its third-party marketplace and advertising businesses and drive efficiency “to fund strategic investments and offset pressures.”

    Here’s how the consumer electronics company did compared with what Wall Street was expecting for the company’s fiscal first quarter, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:

    Earnings per share: $1.15 adjusted vs. $1.09 expected
    Revenue: $8.77 billion vs. $8.81 billion expected

    Shares fell nearly 3% in premarket trading.
    Best Buy’s net income in the three-month period that ended May 3 declined about 18% to $202 million, or 95 cents per share, from $246 million, or $1.13 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time expenses, including restructuring charges for its Best Buy Health business, the company reported earnings of $1.15 per share.
    First-quarter revenue dropped from $8.85 billion in the year-ago period.
    Comparable sales, defined by Best Buy as revenue from online sales and stores open at least 14 months, dropped 0.7% year over year. In the U.S., comparable sales also fell 0.7% year over year as shoppers bought fewer home theaters, appliances and drones than a year ago. The company said weakness in those categories was partially offset by growth in the computing, mobile phone and tablet categories.
    Best Buy is a closely watched name when it comes to the impact of tariffs since it sells iPhones, TVs, laptops, kitchen appliances and many other consumer electronics that tend to be made in China or other parts of Asia. That’s why Barry said on a March earnings call that the retailer would likely have to raise prices because of the duties.
    However, Barry said on an earnings call Thursday that Best Buy’s mix of imports has changed in recent months. China continues to be a major source of merchandise, but the country now accounts for 30% to 35% of its merchandise compared to the 55% metric that it shared on its March earnings call.
    About 25% of its merchandise comes from U.S. or Mexico, which do not have tariffs due to domestic production or exemptions, she said. The remaining roughly 40% comes from other areas, including Vietnam, India, South Korea and Taiwan, which are subject to a 10% tariff.
    The U.S. currently has an up to 30% tariff on imports from China, while goods compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement are exempt from the Trump administration’s 25% duty on Mexico. It is unclear now how those rates will change after a federal trade court struck down many of Trump’s tariffs on Wednesday.
    Barry on the Thursday earnings call outlined ways that Best Buy is adjusting to current tariffs, while acknowledging the backdrop could change after the court ruling. The vast majority of what the retailer sells — about 97% or 98% of its merchandise — is imported by vendors rather than directly by the company.
    Best Buy has encouraged vendors to manufacture in multiple countries, negotiated lower costs and adjusted the mix of merchandise that it carries, she said.
    As of Wednesday’s close, shares of Best Buy are down nearly 17% so far this year. That trails behind the roughly flat performance of the S&P 500 year to date. Shares of Best Buy closed at $71.52 on Wednesday, bringing the company’s market value to $15.14 billion. More

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    Will European business turn away from America?

    If the European Union was, as Donald Trump claims, formed “to screw the United States”, nobody told its companies. The stock of foreign direct investment in America held by EU businesses reached more than $2trn in 2023, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the country’s total, up from a third a decade before. That is far more than from any other source. European companies employ around 3.5m people in America, more than American ones do in the bloc. Germany’s car-industry association says its members have 140,000 workers across 2,000 factories in America, producing 900,000 vehicles a year. More

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    Europe’s attempted bonfire of red tape is impressing no one

    A couple of years ago DP World, an Emirati ports group with vast operations in Europe, began work to meet European Union rules on sustainability reporting and due diligence. The company had to amass more than 170 different bits of data. Some, like the size of its workforce and their gender, were easy to gather. Others, like water use, less so. DP World hired consultants, expanded its sustainability team and bought new software. Then the EU decided to revise its rulebook. More