The fourth quarter earnings season kicked off in earnest on Tuesday with the arrival of quarterly reports from Delta Air Lines (DAL) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Additional bank earnings will highlight the earnings calendar later this week.

An optimistic consensus is forming: Wall Street analysts estimate S&P 500 (^GSPC) companies will report an earnings per share growth rate of 8.3% for Q4, according to FactSet data. If that rate holds, it would represent the 10th consecutive quarter of annual earnings growth for the index.

Heading into the reporting period, analysts have raised their earnings expectations, especially for tech companies, which have driven earnings growth in recent quarters. On Sept. 30, the consensus estimate for S&P 500 fourth quarter earnings growth stood at 7.2%.

Although Big Tech continues to set the tone, this earnings season promises to test the improved stock market breadth that has emerged at the start of 2026. Plus, the themes that drove the markets in 2025 — artificial intelligence, the Trump administration's tariff and economic policies, and a K-shaped consumer economy — will continue to provide plenty for investors to parse.

The major financial companies will round out the earnings docket this week. In addition to Delta and JPMorgan, investors will hear from Bank of New York Mellon (BK) on Tuesday; Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Wells Fargo (WFC) on Wednesday; and BlackRock (BLK), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS) on Friday.

Days after President Trump proposed capping credit card interest rates at 10%, corporate executives warned that the policy would have wide-ranging ramifications and possibly hurt consumers if enacted.

\\"If it happened the way it was described, it would be dramatic,\\" JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said on the company's earnings call. JPMorgan is the nation's top credit card issuer, handling $1.34 billion in purchase volume.

The company's CFO, Jeremy Barnum, added that consumers would likely face service changes as a result, particularly credit card users with subprime risk profiles, who may face more financial instability.

\\"People will lose access to credit, like on a very, very extensive and broad basis, especially the people who need it the most, ironically,\\" Barnum said. \\"And so that's a pretty severely negative consequence for consumers and, frankly, probably also a negative consequence for the economy as a whole right now.\\"

It's unclear how Trump could implement a one-year credit card APR limit without legislation from Congress. To that end, on Tuesday, US ‌House Speaker ‌Mike Johnson took up the issue and said he would explore the president's idea.

Johnson also acknowledged there could be \\"unintended consequences\\" of such a move — a sentiment echoed by Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian in the company's earnings call on Tuesday.

Delta offers a co-branded credit card with American Express (AXP) that contributes an estimated 13% of its annual revenue. The partnership continues to be a lucrative one for Delta: Delta's revenue from the card grew 11% year over year to $8.2 billion in 2025, the company reported Tuesday.

\\"I think one of the big issues and challenges with the potential order is the fact that it would actually restrict the lower-end consumer from having access to any credit, not just what the interest rate they're paying, which would upend the whole credit card industry,\\" Bastian said. \\"So from our standpoint, we'll be working closely with American Express, but I don't see any way we could even begin to contemplate how that would be implemented.\\"

Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith reports:

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon offered support for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, reiterating the importance of an independent US central bank after the Fed chair disclosed late Sunday that the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into Powell's testimony to Congress last year.

\\"While I don't agree with everything that the Fed has done, I do have enormous respect for Jay Powell, the man,\\" Dimon said during a call with reporters following the bank's fourth quarter earnings report.

\\"Everyone we know believes in Fed independence ... anything that chips away at that is probably not a good idea,\\" Dimon added. \\"In my view, it will have the reverse consequences. It will probably raise inflation expectations.\\"

Dimon, along with many other Wall Street CEOs, came to the Fed's defense last summer when reports first surfaced that the Trump administration was seeking to oust Powell. At the time, Dimon told reporters that an independent Federal Reserve is \\"absolutely critical\\" for Powell and whoever succeeds him as chair.

Read more here.

Cardinal Health (CAH) stock rose almost 4% before the bell on Tuesday after raising its 2026 profit forecast.

MT Newswires reports:

Cardinal Health said Tuesday that it now expects at least $10 in fiscal 2026 non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, up from its prior outlook of $9.65 to $9.85.

Analysts polled by FactSet expect $9.86.

The company also said it now expects more than $50 billion in fiscal 2026 specialty revenue, representing a 16% compound annual growth rate over three years.

Read more here.

US investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) posted fourth quarter results on Tuesday that beat revenue estimates but missed earnings expectations, as net income was hit following its deal to take over the Apple Card (AAPL) from Goldman Sachs (GS).

Yahoo Finance's senior reporter David Hollerith looks at the latest earnings release from JPM.

Net income for the firm came in at $13 billion, including the $2.2 billion in credit losses it planned for as a result of the deal. Excluding these costs, JPMorgan said its net income would've tallied $14.7 billion in the quarter.

Earnings per share, excluding these costs, came in at $5.23, higher than the $4.85 that Wall Street was expecting. Including costs from its Apple Card deal, JPMorgan reported earnings per share of $4.63 in the quarter.

JPMorgan stock rose about 1% following the release.

In a statement, CEO Jamie Dimon said the US economy has been \\"resilient,\\" adding that, \\"consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy.\\"

Dimon cautioned, however, that, \\"markets seem to underappreciate the potential hazards—including from complex geopolitical conditions, the risk of sticky inflation and elevated asset prices.\\"

Read more here.

Delta Airlines' (DAL) stock sank 5% before the bell on Tuesday despite posting upbeat Q4 results, as forecasts fell below estimates.

The airline company said growth in the premium business and lack of certain headwinds would propel its business forward in 2026.

Yahoo Finance's senior reporter Pras Subramanian delves into the latest results from Delta.

For the quarter, Delta posted record adjusted revenue of $14.61 billion against estimates for $14.67 billion, per Bloomberg consensus. The results were up 1.2% compared to a year ago, which was outside of the airline’s own 2% guidance due to the impact of the government shutdown.

Delta’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.55, versus the $1.53 expected. The company's earnings took a $0.25 hit from the government shutdown as well.

Looking ahead, Delta is projecting revenue in Q1 to grow by 5% to 7%, with operating margin in the 4.5% to 6% range and adjusted EPS of $0.50 to $0.90. For the year, Delta sees adjusted EPS of $6.50 to $7.50, representing a whopping 20% year-over-year jump at the midpoint, with free cash flow in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion.

Read more here.

Investors are expecting a low-volatility earnings season, given softer option volumes over the past two weeks and balanced positioning, according to a Jan. 8 note on tactical earnings trades from the Goldman Sachs Investment Research team.

The analysts estimated the average implied earnings day stock move — how much the market expects a stock to swing following corporate results, based on options data — is 4.5% in either direction, below the long-term average.

\\"With less fear priced in, it is more difficult to see relief rallies on earnings days,\\" they wrote.

Still, the Goldman Sachs team noted that having exposure to stocks through their earnings events remains important for fundamental investors. Just two quarters ago, the actual moves on earnings days for individual stocks were at their highest level since 2009.

Where the team does expect more volatility is in utility, healthcare, materials, and industrial stocks, which \\"have been making the most unusually large moves on earnings-day in recent quarters.\\"

The major financial institutions are penciled in to report fourth quarter results this week, including the nation's largest bank, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), which is expected to reveal another year of record revenue and one of its best years in profits.

Other major financial firms, including Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Morgan Stanley (MS), are also expected to reveal just how good 2025 was for investment bankers.

Yahoo Finance's David Hollerith previews what to expect:

Analysts also expect the banks to each report a record annual haul in trading fees, with the exception of Wells Fargo. Its smaller but growing team of investment bankers is set for its own record in dealmaking fees.

\\"Everything is moving up at the same time, right now,\\" said Saul Martinez, an analyst covering large US banks for HSBC.

From large volatility spikes to a climbing stock market and a lending pickup, \\"you've seen material increases in earnings and profitability power for these companies,\\" Martinez said.

Several equity analysts, including Bank of America's Ebrahim Poonawala, already have enough bluster to call 2026 the third consecutive year that the KBW Nasdaq Bank Index (^BKX), which houses many of the country's biggest banking stocks, outperforms the S&P 500. The BKX rose 29% in 2025, while the S&P 500 rose 17%.

Read the full bank earnings preview here.

A slate of earnings reports from the major financial institutions marks the unofficial start of earnings season. But investors will also get an early read of the airline industry, chipmakers, and logistics operators from other corporate earnings beginning to flow this week.

Here's a look at the earnings calendar for the week of Jan. 12:

Tuesday: JPMorgan Chase (JPM), BNY Mellon (BK), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Concentrix Corporation (CNXC), Phoenix Education Partners (PXED)

Wednesday: Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Citigroup (C), Infosys (INFY), Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR), Home Bancshares (HOMB), Platinum Group Metals (PLG)

Thursday: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM), Goldman Sachs (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS), BlackRock (BLK), JB Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), First Horizon Corporation (FHN)

Friday: PNC Financial (PNC), State Street (STT), M&T Bank (MTB), Wipro (WIT), Regions Financial (RF), BOK Financial (BOKF)

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