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- 👉 The First Big Earnings Reports of 2026
Welcome to your new week.
And just like that… we’re back in the thick of it. Earnings reports are picking back up, Trump news is constant, major conferences are dominating headlines, and everyone awaits the next moves by the Fed.
Read on for everything you should be watching this week.
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Key Earnings Announcements:
As usual — big banks kick off the next set of earnings reports. Here we go!
Monday (1/12): N/A
Tuesday (1/13): Bank of New York Melon, Delta, JPMorgan Chase
Wednesday (1/14): Bank of America, Citi Bank, Wells Fargo
Thursday (1/15): BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, J.B. Hunt, Morgan Stanley, Taiwan Semi
Friday (1/16): PNC, Regions, State Street
What We’re Watching:
Delta Air Lines (DAL)
Delta Air Lines (+8% 1-Year) reports Q4 FY2025 earnings Thursday before the open, with investors focused on whether strong travel demand and premium cabin growth can continue to offset rising costs and a more price-sensitive consumer. Delta remains the highest-margin major U.S. carrier, but fuel prices, labor costs, and corporate travel trends are key variables heading into 2026.
Last quarter, Delta delivered $15.5 billion in revenue (+6% YoY) and $2.04 in adjusted EPS, beating expectations as international travel, premium seating, and loyalty revenue remained strong. Operating margin held above 13%, supported by pricing power in premium cabins and continued strength in credit-card and loyalty partnerships.
For this quarter, I’ll be focused on whether yield strength is holding across premium and international routes, how fuel and labor costs are tracking, and whether management adjusts capacity or margin guidance for 2026. Updates on loyalty revenue and corporate-travel trends will also be key drivers for sentiment.
“Demand for premium and international travel continues to outperform, giving us confidence in our long-term margin profile.”
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart, Seeking Alpha
JPMorgan Chase (JPM)
JPMorgan Chase (+37.2% 1-Year) reports Q4 FY2025 earnings Friday before the open, with investors focused on whether the largest U.S. bank can sustain profit growth as net interest income peaks and consumer credit conditions begin to soften. JPM remains the bellwether for U.S. financials, but rising delinquencies, regulatory uncertainty, and shifting rate expectations are becoming more important swing factors for 2026.
Last quarter, JPM posted $42.3 billion in revenue (+8% YoY) and $4.33 in adjusted EPS (+18% YoY), beating expectations as investment banking rebounded and trading activity picked up. Net interest income remained strong, though management flagged that deposit betas are rising and loan growth is slowing, particularly in commercial real estate and credit cards.
Heading into this print, I’ll be watching trends in net interest income, credit-card charge-offs, and commercial loan growth, as well as updates on capital returns and regulatory capital requirements. Commentary on consumer health, deposit competition, and how the bank is positioning for a lower-rate environment will be key for the stock.
“We’re seeing a normalization of credit while the economy continues to show resilience.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Stock Performance, 5-Year Chart, Seeking Alpha
Investor Events / Global Affairs:
The largest consumer conference returns to the spotlight in Orlando, markets react to Trump’s call for a 10% credit card rate cap, and the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference kicks off in San Francisco.
ICR Conference
Source: icrconference.com
ICR Conference — one of the most important events on the retail calendar — kicks off this week in Orlando, Florida. Major companies are expected to provide holiday sales updates, margin commentary, and fresh full-year guidance. The conference often drives post-holiday revisions to earnings forecasts and sets the tone for how Wall Street views consumer demand heading into the new year.
Notable participants include Walmart (WMT), Urban Outfitters (URBN), Shake Shack (SHAK), Movado (MOV), Yeti (YETI), and more.
“The super bowl of consumer conferences.”
JPMorgan Healthcare Conference Kicks Off in San Francisco
The four-day JPMorgan Healthcare Conference begins this week, bringing together the world’s largest pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-device companies with institutional investors. Heavyweights including Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Kodiak Sciences will present on pipelines, clinical data, M&A priorities, and 2026 growth outlooks.
This year’s event carries added weight after a volatile year for biotech and a surge in dealmaking expectations, with investors watching closely for signals on drug pricing, capital allocation, and late-stage trial readouts.
A key moment will be the keynote from FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, who is expected to outline the agency’s priorities around accelerated approvals, AI-driven drug development, and safety and efficacy standards – guidance that could shape regulatory risk and valuation across the sector for the year ahead.
“The conference often sets the tone for the year ahead, and will offer an early pulse on what the health-care industry could look like in 2026. Executives from companies large and small are expected to roll out key business and drug pipeline updates, announce splashy M&A deals and offer their read on industry sentiment more than a year into Trump 2.0.”
Markets React to Trump’s Call for a 10% Credit Card Rate Cap
President Trump’s call for a one-year 10% cap on credit-card interest rates starting Jan. 20, 2026 has injected a new policy variable into consumer finance and bank earnings. While the proposal has no formal regulatory backing yet and would likely require congressional action, expect markets to be weighing the implications for lending profitability, consumer behavior, and credit availability.
On top of that, major U.S. banks will report December credit-card metrics this week, offering a real-time snapshot of how stressed the consumer already is before any policy intervention:
American Express, Bank of America, Citigroup, Capital One, Discover, JPMorgan, and Synchrony will all update investors on net charge-offs and delinquency rates.
These reports will be closely watched as:
Delinquencies are rising across subprime and near-prime borrowers
Revolving balances remain near record highs
Funding costs for banks stay elevated
“It's unclear if the president will attempt to enforce his proposed 10% cap through some kind of executive action, or if his goal is to pressure credit card issuers to slash their rates voluntarily.”
Major Economic Events:
Fed speak whirlwind, CPI, PPI, and retail sales highlight this week
Monday (1/12): Fed Speakers (Barkin, Bostic, Williams)
Tuesday (1/13): CPI, Core CPI, CPI Year-over-Year, Core CPI Year-over-Year, NFIB Optimism Index, New Home Sales, U.S. Budget Deficit
Wednesday (1/14): Retail Sales, Retail Sales ex-Autos, PPI, Core PPI, Business Inventories, Existing Home Sales, Fed Beige Book
Thursday (1/15): Initial Jobless Claims, Import Prices, Empire State Manufacturing, Philly Fed Manufacturing
Friday (1/16): Industrial Production, Capacity Utilization
What We’re Watching:
Consumer Price Index
U.S. inflation cooled meaningfully in December, with headline CPI falling to 2.7% YoY, the lowest reading since July and well below expectations for 3.1%. While energy prices remained elevated — led by fuel oil and natural gas — price pressures eased across several core categories, including apparel and new vehicles.
More importantly for the Federal Reserve, core inflation declined to 2.6% YoY, its lowest level since March 2021, beating expectations and signaling broad-based disinflation across the economy. Shelter inflation slowed to 3.0%, while medical care, furnishings, and used vehicles showed moderate increases.
Due to the 43-day government shutdown, October CPI was not collected and November monthly data was not released, but the BLS said prices rose just 0.2% over the two-month period from September through November, reinforcing the cooling trend.
Economists expect the following this week:
• Headline CPI (YoY): 2.7% vs. 3.0% prior
• Core CPI (YoY): 2.6% vs. 3.0% prior
• CPI (MoM): ~+0.2%
“The absence of clean readings on inflation, as well as signs the US labor market is stabilizing after a run of weak payrolls figures, help explain why Federal Reserve officials are expected to hold the line on interest rates in the near-term.”
Producer Price Index
U.S. producer prices rose 0.3% MoM in September, rebounding from August’s unexpected 0.1% decline and landing in line with expectations. The increase was driven almost entirely by higher food and energy costs, with factory-gate food prices jumping 1.1% and energy prices rising 3.5%, led by gains in natural gas liquids and ethanol.
Goods inflation accelerated to 0.9%, its fastest pace in over a year, while services prices remained flat, holding on to the prior month’s decline – a sign that upstream inflation remains concentrated in commodities rather than broad-based pricing power. On an annual basis, PPI held steady at 2.7%, indicating that underlying producer-level inflation has not reaccelerated despite the monthly spike.
The report reinforces the idea that inflation risks are being driven more by volatile energy and food inputs than by demand-driven pricing.
Economists expect the following this week:
• Headline PPI (MoM): +0.3% vs. -0.1% prior
• Headline PPI (YoY): 2.7% vs. 2.7% prior
• Core PPI (MoM): ~0.0%
“With multiple domestic and international reports on the horizon, investors will be assessing whether underlying inflation continues to ease, how consumers and businesses are responding, and what central banks’ next moves might be.”
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Disclosure: The author of this post has an existing business relationship with NEOS Investment Management, LLC, and is also a holder of numerous NEOS ETFs. The thoughts and opinions in this written piece are solely those of the author.
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