JetBlue Airways, which also posted a quarterly loss on Thursday, said a recovery will be directly linked to a decline in covid-19 case counts.
American posted an $8.9 billion annual loss, its biggest on record, though its adjusted quarterly net loss of $3.86 per share was better than analysts’ expectations for a loss of $4.11 per share, according to Refinitiv data.
Total operating revenue fell to $4.03 billion from $11.31 billion but topped analysts’ expectations of $3.88 billion.
Southwest reported an annual loss of $3.1 billion, its first annual loss since 1972, and said it was facing stalled demand in January and February, driven by high levels of covid-19 cases and hospitalizations.
So far, the U.S. vaccine rollout has been patchy and a string of European countries is discouraging travel and implementing more travel curbs in an attempt to contain the spread of new infections.
The United States on Tuesday began requiring negative coronavirus tests for people entering the country from abroad, including U.S. citizens, a move that airlines said triggered a decline in bookings, even as they continue to view testing as a necessary strategy to reopen travel over the longer term.
Distilled spirits sales rise during pandemic
Domestic consumption of distilled spirits in the United States rose sharply last year as people splurged on premium spirits, although American whiskey exports fell due to retaliatory tariffs from Europe, a U.S. industry trade body said Thursday.
U.S. distillers reported a 7.7 percent jump in sales in 2020 to $31.2 billion, while volumes rose 5.3 percent to 251 million 9-liter cases, the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS) said in a report.
With pandemic-related restrictions forcing closures of bars, restaurants and night clubs in many countries and curtailing travel, drinking occasions have shifted to homes.
Underscoring the trend was a surprise rise in sales of the world’s largest spirits maker Diageo on Thursday that also pointed to U.S. shoppers splurging on premium tequilas, vodkas and bourbon.
DISCUS said spirits were gaining market share over beer and wine and that it now stood at 39.1 percent of the total U.S. beverage alcohol market, the highest ever in the last 40 years.
However, a sore point for the industry continued to be the retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent slapped by Europe on American whiskey in 2018, as part of a long-running dispute over state subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing.
Tariffs curbed exports by 53 percent to Britain and 38 percent to the European Union since they were imposed in 2018, DISCUS said. In June 2021, E.U. tariffs on American Whiskey will be automatically raised to 50 percent.
“We are hopeful the Biden administration will clearly recognize the widespread damage caused by the escalation of these trade disputes,” said Christine LoCascio, chief of public policy at DISCUS.
Lowe’s said Thursday it plans to hire more than 50,000 workers across its U.S. stores in the spring as the retailer races to meet pandemic-fueled demand for home improvement products. The company also said it would pay front-line workers about $80 million in additional discretionary bonuses, taking its total covid-19 financial commitment to employees and communities to nearly $1.3 billion.
Nissan is recalling more than 354,000 Pathfinder SUVs worldwide, some for a second time, because the brake lights can stay on all the time. The recall covers certain Pathfinders from the 2013 through 2015 model years. The automaker says a stop lamp relay can get stuck in the on position. The problem can limit engine power and let drivers shift out of park or start the engine without a foot on the brake pedal.
Marlboro maker Altria beat estimates for fourth-quarter revenue Thursday and said it would invest a portion of profits from its booming cigarettes business into developing and marketing oral tobacco and heated tobacco products this year. Tobacco companies are pouring tens of millions of dollars into developing alternative products in a bid to scrub their image as purveyors of cancer-causing cigarettes by introducing new heated-tobacco products and nicotine pouches.
8:30 a.m.: Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for December.
