Markets Flatten by the Close; Q1 Reports from UAL, IBKR, JBHT

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Market activity started off with some momentum today, swinging from negative to positive right around the opening bell and peaking around 45 minutes into the session, but then unwinding slowly throughout the day and closing right around breakeven: the Dow lost -155 points, -0.38%, but the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down 9 and 8 points, respectively. The Russell 2000 finished the day up +1 point.

A pause in the chaotic ping-pong game of global tariffs that began two weeks ago tomorrow has calmed the market: the bounce off April 8th lows is consistent across major indexes, even as they appear to be bowing toward a lower trajectory. We may be experiencing the calm before the storm, however: it was one thing to see these extraordinary tariffs being slapped onto global trade partners, but seeing the results of these policies at the market or in Q1 earnings guidance? That’s quite another.
 

Q1 Earnings Roundup: UAL, IBKR, JBHT

While the total amount of companies per day reporting earnings is low — a couple dozen here or there — they tend to carry a lot of water for their respective industries. We’ve already seen this with the biggest Wall Street banks and a few others, but we’re still a couple days away for the “Mag-7” companies to start reporting.

Check out the updated Zacks Earnings Calendar here. https://www.zacks.com/earnings/earnings-calendar

United Airlines UAL carried its Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) rating into its Q1 earnings report released after the closing bell today, with mixed results on headline numbers. Earnings of 91 cents per share outshone the Zacks consensus of 80 cents (and far beyond the -$0.15 per share reported in the year-ago quarter), while revenues of $13.21 billion missed the $13.30 billion analysts were expecting.

Pre-tax margins were up +3% for the quarter, with +5% growth in International offset by lower domestic receipts. But it is the dual guidance ushered in by the company that’s gaining most of the attention: should 2025 finish without hitting a recession, earnings per share are expected to be between $11.50-13.50 — but if we do slide into negative growth for two quarters or longer, United expects this estimate to erode to $7-9 per share. The stock is trading up +6% in the late session.

Interactive Brokers IBKR missed forecasts on both top and bottom lines this afternoon, with earnings of $1.88 per share missing the Zacks consensus by 4 cents, while revenues of $1.40 billion were shy of the $1.43 billion expected. The company announced a 4-for-1 stock split, as well as an increase in the dividend from 25 cents to 32 cents per share. Daily Average Revenue Traders (DART) grew +50% over the past year.

Trucking and logistics giant J.B. Hunt JBHT was also mixed in its Q1 release after today’s close. While the company beat on its bottom line by 2 cents to $1.17 per share, revenues missed slightly to 2.92 billion from $2.93 billion anticipated. It’s all-important Inter-modal segment brought in $1.47 billion for the quarter, but this wasn’t enough to keep the late trade for this stock sliding 6%, -20% year to date.

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