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👉 Week in Review — Too Long; Didn’t Read:
Key Earnings Announcements:
Delta’s fuel cost rose +62% YoY.
PepsiCo’s International business now represent 45% of YTD profits.
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
SpaceX’s spectrum deal sent Verizon to its worst day since 2002.
OpenAI’s annualized revenue came in at $50 billion
Paramount closed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Economic Updates:
Fed minutes showed most officials expect another hike by year-end.
The trade deficit widened to $105.6 billion in August.
Let’s dive right in!
👉 Best and Worst ETF Performers of the Week
👉 Key Earnings Announcements:
Delta’s fuel cost rose +62% YoY, and PepsiCo’s International business now represent 45% of YTD profits.
Delta (DAL)
Key Metrics
Revenue: $20.2 billion, an increase of +21% YoY
Operating Income: $1.5 billion, compared to $1.68 billion last year
Profits: $2.0 billion, an increase of +40% YoY
Earnings Release Callout
“Demand remains strong, supported by consumers’ growing preference for experiences and travel, with air travel continuing to be one of the best values in the consumer economy. Against this backdrop, we delivered September quarter pre-tax profit of $1.5 billion, matching last year’s performance, and generated $1.9 billion of free cash flow year-to-date. Our resilience reflects the structural durability we’ve built over many years, enabling us to effectively navigate one of the most elevated fuel environments in recent times.”
My Takeaway
Delta reported record September-quarter revenue as strong pricing and broad travel demand more than offset flat capacity. The biggest pressure remained fuel, with adjusted fuel expense rising 62% YoY and helping push GAAP operating income and profits below last year.
Demand was strong across nearly every geography. Domestic revenue increased 16% to $10.59 billion, Atlantic grew 11% to $3.32 billion, Latin America increased 14% and Pacific revenue grew 13%. Latin America was strong on a unit-revenue basis, increasing 22%, while Transatlantic unit revenue accelerated to 11% growth.
Delta’s higher-margin revenue streams continued taking a larger share of the business. Premium revenue increased 18% to $6.82 billion and diverse revenue streams represented 61% of adjusted revenue. Loyalty revenue also grew 18%, while American Express remuneration increased 15% and is now expected to exceed $9 billion for the full year. Cargo and MRO revenue increased 29% and 28%, respectively.
Management emphasized that demand remains strong across leisure, corporate and premium travel even as the airline industry absorbs significantly higher fuel prices. Corporate sales grew double digits across every sector, and management said the week following Labor Day was the strongest corporate-sales week in Delta’s history. Forward cash sales also increased nearly 20% during the quarter, the strongest growth since 2022, giving management confidence that the revenue momentum is continuing into year-end.
Looking ahead, management expects fourth-quarter revenue to increase approximately 20% YoY on roughly 3% capacity growth, with operating margins between 7% and 9%. Delta expects full-year EPS between $5.10 and $5.60 and approximately $2.5 billion of free cash flow while paying down more than $2.0 billion of debt during 2026.
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PepsiCo (PEP)
Key Metrics
Revenue: $25.3 billion, an increase of +5.6% YoY
Operating Income: $4.3 billion, an increase of +19% YoY
Profits: $3.1 billion, an increase of +17% YoY
Earnings Release Callout
“Our third-quarter results featured strong net revenue growth, an acceleration in organic revenue growth with organic volume growth across both global beverages and convenient foods. The results reflect the scale and resilience of the international business, the ongoing evolution of the global portfolio and an improved presence in underpenetrated channels and occasions.”
My Takeaway
PepsiCo reported an improving top-line quarter as organic revenue growth accelerated to 3.1%, its fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2023. Global beverage volume increased 3%, while snack volume grew 4% excluding its grains business in South Africa.
International remained the clear growth engine. International organic revenue increased 8% and operating margin expanded 105 basis points, with strong performance across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. EMEA revenue increased 8%, Latin America Foods grew 14%, Asia Pacific Foods increased 10%, and International Beverages Franchise grew 8%. Management noted that international markets now represent roughly 45% of year-to-date profits.
North America remained much more mixed. PepsiCo Foods North America revenue was flat, although snack volumes improved from low-single-digit declines last year to low-single-digit growth following price reductions and increased innovation. PepsiCo Beverages North America revenue increased 5%, largely because of acquisitions, while beverage volumes declined 2%. Management said hydration and energy are performing well but acknowledged that soft drinks remain an area where PepsiCo is not competing effectively enough.
Management emphasized urgency around improving North America, including additional cost reductions, heavier investment behind its strongest brands and tighter execution across individual channels and retailers. PepsiCo increased advertising and marketing spending at a double-digit pace across both U.S. businesses during the quarter and plans to use productivity savings and revenue-management initiatives to offset another wave of input-cost inflation.
Looking ahead, management now expects approximately 3% organic revenue growth and roughly 6% reported revenue growth for fiscal 2026. PepsiCo lowered its core EPS growth outlook to between 2.5% and 3.5%, down from the previous low end of 5% to 7%, primarily because margins are coming in below expectations as input costs rise and business mix remains unfavorable.
Long PepsiCo.
👉 Investor Events / Global Affairs:
SpaceX’s spectrum deal sent Verizon to its worst day since 2002, OpenAI’s annualized revenue came in at $50 billion, Paramount closed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
SpaceX’s Spectrum Deal Sent Verizon to Its Worst Day Since 2002
A worker installs fencing at the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne on the day of the company’s IPO, in Hawthorne, California, June 12, 2026. Mike Blake | Reuters
SpaceX agreed on Thursday to buy a nationwide spectrum portfolio from Grain Management, up to 14 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 800 MHz band, pending FCC approval. SpaceX said the low-band spectrum addresses “one of the key remaining technical gaps” for Starlink Mobile to become a major U.S. carrier, and Elon Musk called it a “very big deal.” The deal came shortly after T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon formed their own satellite joint venture without Starlink, and a day after the FCC said it would vote on auctioning 25 megahertz of spectrum for satellite-to-phone service.
Telecom stocks sold off hard on Friday. Verizon fell 8.75%, its worst day since July 2002, while T-Mobile dropped 13.27% and AT&T fell 9.81%, their worst days since 2013 and 2000, respectively. Starlink had 12 million subscribers as of June 30 and generated $1.66 billion of operating income on $4.29 billion of revenue in the second quarter. Analysts still see limits. JPMorgan said the deal makes Starlink Mobile more credible but sees limited near-term risk to incumbents, given the time and capital needed to build a ground network.
“There’s going to be moves in the market. People are going to try to out-compete, out-innovate, and I think that’s great. We’re going to see how this plays out. It’s not for us ultimately to pick winners and losers.”
OpenAI’s Annualized Revenue Came In at $50 Billion
Attendees arrive for an OpenAI developers conference at Fort Mason on Sept. 29, 2026 in San Francisco, California. Andrej Sokolow | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
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