Jonathan Levin, Columnist

Baffled C-Suites Are a Fresh Hurdle for Markets

For all its flaws, corporate earnings guidance has been a positive for investors.

April 16, 2025 at 10:00 AM UTC

Jonathan Levin is a columnist focused on US markets and economics. Previously, he worked as a Bloomberg journalist in the US, Brazil and Mexico. He is a CFA charterholder.

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Delta Air Lines Inc. and the parent of Frontier Airlines recently yanked earnings guidance for 2025, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon saying that he expects “to see more of that.” United Airlines Holdings Inc. took the unusual step of offering two profit scenarios since the environment “is impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence.” It isn’t just the airlines. JD Sports Fashion Plc warned analysts to not even ask about tariffs — “we’re not going to answer” — and Levi Strauss & Co. said its team was still trying to figure out the impact of the levies.

The first-quarter earnings season is only just beginning in earnest, but investors are already preparing for the possibility that they may end up getting a lot less forward-looking information than they’re used to from top executives.