Business

United Airlines reported a loss for the first three months of the year.
The airline joined Delta in forecasting a profit during the start of the peak travel season.
United executives will discuss results with analysts and media on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

A view of a United Airlines plane at Barcelona Airport in Barcelona, Spain, on February 27, 2023.
Joan Valls | Nurphoto | Getty Images

United Airlines reported a loss for the first three months of the year but forecast a profit for the second quarter, when the peak summer travel season picks up.
United joined rival Delta Air Lines in reporting strong travel demand for the spring and summer, despite some predictions for an economic slowdown. For the second quarter, United expects adjusted earnings per share of $3.50 to $4 and revenues to rise 14% to 16% from last year, on capacity up 18.5% from last year.

Here’s how United performed in the first quarter compared with what Wall Street expected, based on average estimates compiled by Refinitiv:

Adjusted loss per share: loss of 63 cents versus an expected 73 cents
Total revenue: $11.43 billion versus expected $11.42 billion

For the three months ended March 31, United generated $11.43 billion in revenue, essentially in line with analysts’ forecasts and up more than 51% from the same period last year. United posted a net loss of $194 million, or a loss 59 cents a share, compared with a loss of $1.4 billion, or a loss $4.24 per share, in the first quarter of last year.  
Adjusting for one-time items, United had a per-share loss of 63 cents, a narrower loss than the 73 cents that analysts polled by Refinitv were expecting, but at the stronger end of a previously stated range of a loss per share between 60 cents and $1.
Revenue per available seat mile, a sign of how much money airlines are generating compared with how much they’re flying, was up more than 22% from a year ago.
Unit costs were up 4% on the year, but down 0.1% when stripping out fuel. The airline paid $3.33 a gallon for jet fuel, up from $2.88 a gallon in the first quarter of 2022.

United executives will discuss results with analysts and media on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.
Executives are likely to face questions about growth constraints during the second and third quarters, when airlines make the bulk of their revenue.
United and other airlines are planning to reduce flights in the New York area in the coming months in response to a shortage of air traffic controllers, though carriers plan to use larger airplanes where possible. More

The Supreme Court ruled that New Jersey can withdraw from the Waterfront Commission Compact it had with New York to police corruption in the shipping industry in the waterways the states share.
All nine of the Supreme Court’s justices voted in favor of the ruling, which dismissed arguments by New York in favor of forcing New Jersey to stay in the compact.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion.

The MOL Maneuver container ship sails into port under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the lower bay of New York Harbor on March 25, 2021, in New York City.
Gary Hershorn | Corbis News | Getty Images

The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that New Jersey can unilaterally withdraw from the longstanding Waterfront Commission Compact it has with New York to police corruption in the shipping industry in the major port the two states share.
All nine of the Supreme Court’s justices voted to dismiss arguments by New York in favor of forcing New Jersey to stay in the compact.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the nine-page majority opinion in the case, which is a victory for container shipping companies and the International Longshoreman’s Association, the union that represents dockworkers.
The ruling, which came after five years of litigation in federal district and appeals courts, hinged on the fact that the Waterfront Commission Compact does not explicitly bar either state from exiting the agreement.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy in a statement said he was “thrilled” by the unanimous ruling in his state’s favor, and that “New Jersey’s sovereign right to govern our ports has been vindicated.”
“Since the first hours of our time in office, my Administration has steadfastly pursued the dissolution of the Waterfront Commission because it was the right thing to do,” Murphy said.
“Over 90 percent of commerce at our ports happens on the New Jersey side, and the New Jersey State Police, one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the nation, is more than capable of taking on the Commission’s law enforcement and regulatory responsibilities.”

The two-member Waterfront Commission was created in 1953 by New York and New Jersey to address labor corruption in the Port of New York and New Jersey. The entity oversees mandatory employment licensing for waterfront workers and conducts law enforcement probes in the port.
A year after the commission was created, the Marlon Brando movie “On the Waterfront” depicted the labor-related crime that the commission was set up to combat. The film won eight Academy Awards, including for best picture, best actor and best director.
New Jersey sought to withdraw from the Waterfront Commission in 2018, arguing that the compact had outlived its usefulness because organized crime no longer controlled hiring on the docks. The state also argued that the compact had throttled hiring on the docks.
By that time, the vast majority of cargo was being handled by workers on the New Jersey side of the port.
When the compact began, about 70% of waterfront employees worked on the New York side.
New York opposed New Jersey’s bid to exit the compact, arguing that would harm efforts to fight crime on the docks.
New York claimed that the agreement “does not allow either State to unilaterally withdraw,” Kavanaugh noted in his opinion.
However, Kavanaugh added, while the compact explicitly says that both states must agree on making any amendments or supplements, it “does not address each State’s power to unilaterally withdraw.”
“It neither expressly allows nor expressly proscribes unilateral withdrawal,” he wrote.
“That is in contrast to some other interstate companies, which do expressly allow, prohibit or limit unilateral withdrawal,” Kavanaugh wrote.
Kavanaugh also wrote that “principles of state sovereignty likewise support New Jersey’s position.”
“Here, the Compact involves the delegation of a fundamental aspect of a State’s sovereign power — its ability to protect the people, property, and economic activity within its borders — to a bistate agency,” he wrote.
“We draw further guidance from the fact that, as is undisputed, New York and New Jersey never intended for the Compact and Commission to operate forever,” Kavanaugh wrote.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement: “We are disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision to allow New Jersey to unilaterally withdraw from the Waterfront Commission.”
“For decades, the Waterfront Commission has been a vital law enforcement agency, protecting essential industries at the port and cracking down on organized crime,” Hochul and James said. “We will continue to do everything in our power to combat corruption and crime, protect the health of our economy, and ensure the safety of New Yorkers.” More

Anti-abortion group Alliance Defending Freedom said the Supreme Court should keep restrictions on mifepristone in place as the legal battle over the pill plays out.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily blocked those restrictions until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Former FDA officials, the pharmaceutical industry, 23 states and hundreds of members of Congress have argued that the lawsuit targeting mifepristone is baseless.

Anti-abortion demonstrators celebrate outside the United States Supreme Court as the court rules in the Dobbs v Women’s Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v Wade abortion decision in Washington, U.S., June 24, 2022. 
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

An anti-abortion group on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to keep restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone in place while the battle over the medication’s legal status plays out.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily blocked those restrictions until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday in response to an emergency request from the Justice Department and Danco Laboratories, the company that distributes mifepristone.

The Justice Department and Danco also asked the Supreme Court to review the case on an expedited schedule and make a judgement before its summer recess. The high court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, could decide at any time how to proceed with the case.
The group, the Alliance Defending Freedom, asked the Supreme Court, should the justices decide to take the case, to look into whether an 1873 law called the Comstock Act bans mail delivery of mifepristone. The anti-abortion organization also said the court should consider whether the FDA properly approved mifepristone in 2000 if it takes the case.
Mifepristone, used in combination with a drug called misoprostol, is the most common method to terminate a pregnancy in the U.S., accounting for about half of all abortions. If the lower court rulings against mifepristone ultimately stand, access to abortion could face restrictions even in some states where the procedure remains legal.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom accused the FDA of illegally rolling back restrictions on mifepristone over the years. The organization represents a coalition of doctors who oppose abortion called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine.
Former FDA officials, the pharmaceutical industry, 23 U.S. states, hundreds of members of Congress and leading medical associations all strongly dispute those claims. They say the FDA determined mifepristone was safe and effective based on a rigorous scientific review, and its decision regulating the medication falls well within its authority granted by Congress.

The former FDA officials and a coalition of drug companies that include Pfizer, in a separate briefs to the Supreme Court, warned that the lower court rulings restricting mifepristone would deliver a severe blow to the FDA’s regulatory powers and chill research, development and investment in new medications.
Federal Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. Northern District of Texas earlier this month suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone and every subsequent action the agency had taken to ease access to the medication.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage:

The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked part of Kacsmaryk’s order and kept the FDA approval in place, but reimposed restrictions on how mifepristone is used and distributed.
The appeals blocked mail delivery of mifepristone, required patients to visit a doctor to obtain the medication, and shortened the time frame when women can take the drug to the seventh week of pregnancy. They also blocked the 2019 approval of the generic version of mifepristone distributed by another company called GenBioPro.
Alito hit pause on those lower court decisions and has allowed mifepristone to remain more broadly available for now.
“Women will still have access to chemical abortion drugs under the same restrictions that existed for the first 16 years of mifepristone’s use,” argued the Alliance Defending Freedom’s attorneys, led by Erik Baptist. “The only effect of the lower court’s order is to restore a modicum of safety for the women and girls who use the drug, including supervision and oversight by a physician.”
But the Justice Department and Danco, in their emergency requests to the Supreme Court, said the lower court rulings would effectively take mifepristone off the market for months as the FDA adjusts the medication’s labeling to comply with the 5th Circuit’s decision.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said the litigation and lower court rulings have been “troubling at every level” and would have sweeping consequences for the pharmaceutical industry, women’s health and the FDA’s drug approval powers.
The government also argued that complying with the appeals court ruling would effectively be in violation of a competing court order by Judge Thomas Rice of the U.S. Eastern District of Washington. Rice has barred the FDA from restricting the availability of mifepristone in 17 states and Washington, D.C. More

Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said that a flaw detected in some of its 737 Max planes won’t hinder its plans to increase production.
The company disclosed a flaw with some of its 737 Max planes last week and said it was likely to delay deliveries.
The issue was reported just as Boeing was planning to ramp up production.

A Boeing 737 MAX 8 sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington.
Matt Mcknight | Reuters

Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said that a flaw detected in some of its 737 Max planes won’t hinder its supply chain plans for increased production of its bestselling jetliner this year.
On Thursday, Boeing disclosed a problem with two of several brackets in the aft fuselage of some 737 Max planes, including the most popular model, the Max 8, and said it would likely result in reduced deliveries of the planes.

The company is not changing its schedule with suppliers, including “anticipated rate increases,” Calhoun said at the company’s annual shareholder meeting Tuesday. Boeing is also comfortable holding extra stock of aircraft supplies “so our supply chain can keep its pace,” Calhoun added.
Shares of Spirit Aerosystems, which makes the fuselages, and Boeing each rose on Calhoun’s comments.
The latest issue comes as airlines are eager to receive new planes ahead of what’s expected to be a busy summer travel season. Boeing is also planning to increase production of the planes, a goal that has proved challenging as the supply chain recovers from the pandemic.
Calhoun said Tuesday the company is assessing the impact of the issue on 737 Max deliveries and apologized to customers but didn’t provide more detail. He said the issue doesn’t affect the company’s long-term guidance.
He said that Max jetliners that aren’t affected by the flaw will continue to be delivered to airlines.

“We know what we have to do,” he said.
Boeing is scheduled to report first-quarter results on April 26. More

Seniors who have already received a vaccine targeting the omicron BA.5 subvariant are now eligible to receive another dose four months after their last shot.
People with weak immune systems can receive another omicron shot two months after their last dose and receive additional shots at the discretion of their doctor.
Although the burden of the pandemic has eased substantially, Covid continues to kill more than 1,300 people per week, according to the CDC.

Sylvester Fisher gets a influenza vaccine from pharmacist Patricia Pernal during an event hosted by the Chicago Department of Public Health at the Southwest Senior Center on September 09, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. The vaccines were being offered along with pneumonia vaccines and the recently authorized COVID-19 booster vaccine, which protects against the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the more recent omicron variants, BA.4 and BA.5 during the event. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olson | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized an additional dose of Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccines targeting the omicron variant for seniors and people with weak immune systems.
Seniors who are 65 years of age or older and who have already received a vaccine targeting the omicron BA.5 subvariant are now eligible to receive another dose at least four months after their last shot, according to the FDA. People with weak immune systems can receive another omicron shot at least two months after their last dose and receive additional shots at the discretion of their doctor.

Children 6 months through 5 years of age who are unvaccinated can now receive the full two-dose series of Moderna’s omicron vaccine. Kids 6 months through 4 years of age can receive three doses of Pfizer’s shot that targets omicron.
Children who are 5 years old can receive either two doses of Moderna or a single dose of Pfizer.
Children under age 5 who have already started their vaccination series with the old Covid vaccines that target the original strain of the virus can receive the omicron shots to finish their course, though how many doses they receive will depend on whether they took Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Although the burden of the pandemic has eased substantially, Covid continues to kill more than 1,300 people per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 1,600 people are still hospitalized with Covid daily on average, according to the public health agency.
“Covid-19 continues to be a very real risk for many people, and we encourage individuals to consider staying current with vaccination, including with a bivalent Covid-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Peter Marks, who heads the FDA department responsible for vaccines.
The FDA first authorized the omicron BA.5 shots last August, but that subvariant has long since been displaced by a version of omicron called XBB.1.5. In June, the agency will likely update the variant that the Covid vaccines target, ahead of the fall respiratory virus season.

CNBC Health & Science

Read CNBC’s latest global health coverage: More

Johnson & Johnson reported adjusted earnings and revenue that beat expectations, and raised its full-year guidance.
J&J, whose financial results are considered a bellwether for many health companies, said its first-quarter sales grew 5.6% over the same quarter last year. 
The consumer staples giant reported a net loss of $68 million, or 3 cents per share, due to a special one-time charge.

Artur Widak | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Johnson & Johnson reported adjusted earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s expectations on Tuesday, and lifted its full-year forecast as it cited strong growth across all business units led by its pharmaceutical arm.
J&J, whose financial results are considered a bellwether for many health companies, said its first-quarter sales grew 5.6% over the same quarter last year. 

The consumer staples giant reported a net loss of $68 million, or 3 cents per share, related to its talc baby powder liabilities and costs tied to the upcoming spin-off of its consumer health business. That compares to a net income of $5.2 billion, or $1.93 per share, for the same period a year ago. Excluding certain items, adjusted earnings per share were $2.68 for the period.
Here’s how J&J results compared with Wall Street expectations based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:

Earnings per share:  $2.68 adjusted, vs. $2.50 expected
Revenue: $24.75 billion, vs. $23.67 billion expected

J&J is now forecasting 2023 sales of $97.9 billion to $98.9 billion, about $1 billion higher than the guidance provided in January. The company raised its full-year adjusted earnings outlook to $10.60 to $10.70 per share, from a previous forecast of $10.45 to $10.65.
The company’s shares were roughly flat in premarket trading. The stock is down more than 6% for the year through Monday’s close, putting the company’s market value at roughly $430 billion. 
CFO Joseph Wolk told CNBC on Tuesday that J&J raised its guidance due to strong growth across all three business sectors — consumer health, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

“If you think about how we started the year and guidance in January, we were responsibly cautious,” he said on “Squawk Box.” “First-quarter growth was much stronger than even fourth-quarter growth for all three business units, and our positions kind of change to responsibly optimistic at this point. We feel very good about 2023.”
He added that data being produced on J&J’s drug for the cancer multiple myeloma and procedural data in its medical devices unit make the company “feel very, very good about what lies beyond 2023.”
J&J reported $13.4 billion in pharmaceutical sales, which grew more than 4% over the same quarter last year. The company said that increase was driven by sales of Darzalex, a biologic for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and the blockbuster drug Stelara, which is used to treat a number of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.
J&J will lose patent protection on Stelara later this year. During a conference call, Wolk said the company is “committed to growing through the loss.”
Sales for the company’s medical devices business rose to nearly $7.5 billion, up 7.3% from the first quarter of 2022. J&J said its acquisition of Abiomed, a cardiovascular medical technology company, in December last year fueled that rise.
J&J’s consumer health business, which it is spinning off into a separate publicly traded company this year, reported about $3.8 billion in sales. That unit grew 7.4% over the same period last year, primarily driven by over-the-counter products like Tylenol and skin health products under brands like Neutrogena and Aveeno.
Wolk told CNBC the company is making “great progress” on the separation of its consumer health business. But J&J hasn’t been clear about when exactly the split will happen.
J&J also announced its board has approved a 5.3% quarterly dividend increase, to $1.19 per share, due to the company’s strong 2022 performance.
The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company entered this earnings season with its shares on the rise after it offered more clarity on the long-running legal fight over its talc-based baby powder products. Earlier this month, J&J  proposed to pay nearly $9 billion over the next 25 years to settle thousands of allegations that its baby powder and other talc products caused cancer. 
Read the full J&J earnings report. More

Opening arguments are set to begin in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
Dominion has accused Fox of “intentionally and falsely” blaming it for former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden by airing false claims that the company rigged the 2020 election.
Fox has maintained the statements made about Dominion on its air are protected by the First Amendment.
The case has led to the release of troves of private messages and testimony from top Fox News figures including Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and opinion host Tucker Carlson.

A person walks by Fox News signage posted on the News Corporation building in New York City, April 12, 2023
Andrew Kelly | Reuters

WILMINGTON, Del. — Opening arguments are set to begin Tuesday in the Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit accusing Fox News of spreading the damaging falsehood that the company rigged the 2020 election.
The civil trial in Delaware Superior Court arrives more than two years after Dominion, which sells voting machines and election software, first accused Fox of knowingly airing lies about the company in order to boost its ratings.

The network “intentionally and falsely” blamed Dominion for former President Donald Trump’s loss to President Joe Biden by broadcasting unsubstantiated claims about the company, including that it meddled with vote tallies, Dominion alleged.
Fox has maintained that the statements made about Dominion on its air are protected by the First Amendment, which shields the freedoms of speech and press. The network also argued that Dominion’s suit does not establish that the claims were aired with “actual malice,” a requirement to meet the legal standard for defamation.

Lawyers for Dominion Voting Systems and their legal team arrive at the Leonard Williams Justice Center where the Dominion Voting Systems defamation trial against FOX News is taking place on April 18, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

The trial’s unusual circumstances — most defamation cases settle out of court, and few promise in-person testimony from a parade of well-known media figures — along with a 10-figure claim for damages have generated cacophonous media buzz. But it’s far from clear what impact, if any, the case will have on Fox’s reputation or its bottom line.
Dominion has also filed defamation lawsuits against Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani, his ex-campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, right-wing news networks and other figures. Smartmatic, another elections technology firm, has filed similar defamation lawsuits demanding billions of dollars in damages.
But the case against Fox has seized the spotlight in recent months — especially following the release of troves of private messages and testimony from top Fox News talent and executives, including Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and opinion host Tucker Carlson.

The communications have cast a shade of scandal over the legal battle, revealing how some Fox personnel and other high-profile figures reacted behind the scenes to the events following the 2020 election. News outlets were quick to contrast some Fox personalities’ private remarks about the election fraud claims with what was being said on air at the same time.
The trial is expected to last up to six weeks. But an unexplained delay in the proceedings, and reports of behind-the-scenes negotiations between Fox and Dominion, cast doubt on whether the case would even make it to trial.
And the two parties clashed Monday on how much money is actually at stake, with Fox stating Dominion had slashed its damages claim from an original amount of $1.6 billion and Dominion holding firm that “the damages claim remains.”
One piece of the lawsuit has already been decided: Judge Eric Davis last month ruled that the statements flagged by Dominion were, indeed, false. “The evidence developed in this civil proceeding demonstrates that is CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true,” Davis wrote.
His ruling clarified that the trial jury will determine who is responsible for publishing the false claims, and if those people acted with actual malice. That legal standard means proving that the claims were published with the knowledge they were false, or with reckless disregard for the truth.
The lead-up to the trial has already been marked by major twists, only heightening public interest.
The judge ruled earlier this month that the 92-year-old Murdoch and his son, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch, can be forced to testify in court. Other witnesses include Carlson, Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, Sean Hannity and other top TV personalities at Fox.

Dominion lawyers Michael Farnan (L) and Rodney Smolla enter the Leonard Williams Justice Center where the Dominion Voting Systems defamation trial against FOX News is taking place on April 18, 2023 in Wilmington, Delaware.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

And in a pretrial hearing last week, Davis sanctioned Fox and its parent company for withholding evidence from Dominion during the discovery process, NBC News reported.
Recordings made by former Fox producer Abby Grossberg in 2020, which allegedly show Giuliani and Fox host Maria Bartiromo talking about voting software, were not handed over to Dominion, according to NBC. Grossberg sued the network last month, alleging she was coerced into giving misleading testimony in the Dominion case.
A Fox spokeswoman said after the hearing that it had “produced the supplemental information from Ms. Grossberg when we first learned it.”
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
— Kevin Breuninger reported from Wilmington, Delaware. Lillian Rizzo reported from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. More

United plans to expand its flights to Australia and New Zealand later this year.
Airline executives have said they are logging strong international travel demand.
United is scheduled to release quarterly results after the market closes.

A United Airlines Boeing 777-200 lands at San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California.
Louis Nastro | Reuters

United Airlines is planning to grow its service to Australia and New Zealand later this year, the carrier’s latest bet that travelers will continue to book international trips.
The expansion to 66 weekly flights between the U.S. and the two countries amounts to a 40% increase in flights from last year, the carrier said Tuesday. The schedule also equates to about 75% more seats to those countries than the same season of 2019, United said.

The new schedule includes nonstop flights between San Francisco and Christchurch, New Zealand, on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner starting Dec. 1, and from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, on a 787-9 on Oct. 28. United is also building up service from both San Francisco and Los Angeles to Brisbane, Australia, and it is using its largest plane to fly between San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia.
Airline executives have been upbeat about international travel demand and have been expanding their schedules to cater to the rebound.
Delta Air Lines last week forecast second-quarter results ahead of analysts’ estimates and highlighted particular strength for international trips.
“On international, we are excited with the momentum we’re seeing and expect record revenues and profitability for the summer travel season,” Delta’s president, Glen Hauenstein, said Thursday on an earnings call.
The carrier is growing its international seats by 20% in the quarter ending in June and it has locked in about 75% of its bookings, he added.
United Airlines is scheduled to report first-quarter results after the market closes Tuesday and will provide another demand forecast ahead of the peak summer travel season. More