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Happy Tuesday. Nothing quite says the holidays are over like the beginning of a new corporate earnings season.
Stock futures are ticking lower this morning following a winning day.
Here are five key things investors need to know to start the trading day:
1. Turn that frown upside down
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference following a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), at the U.S. Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., U.S., Dec. 10, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
The criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was the top headline for business leaders and investors yesterday, but it didn’t result in the risk-off pressure some expected. Instead, the U.S. stock market battled through the turmoil to new reach new records.
Here’s what to know:
2. To their credit
The JPMorgan Chase & Co. building before the ribbon cutting ceremony, at the firm’s new headquarters at 270 Park Avenue, in New York City, U.S., Oct. 21, 2025.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
JPMorgan Chase surpassed analyst expectations on both lines for the fourth quarter, sending shares up around 1% in premarket trading. The bank also said trading revenue came in stronger than forecasted.
JPMorgan is one of the first major companies to report earnings in the new year. It precedes fellow financial giants Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, all set to share results later this week.
Bank stocks, including JPMorgan, are coming off a harsh session after Trump called for a 10% one-year cap for credit card interest rates. As CNBC’s Hugh Son reports, industry executives scrambled over the weekend to come up with action plans should Trump’s idea — which they see as detrimental to their business models — materialize.
3. Hitting some turbulence
A Delta Air Lines Boeing 737 arrives at Los Angeles International Airport on January 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Speaking of earnings: Shares of Delta Air Lines tumbled 5% this morning after the airline posted slightly lower revenue than Wall Street anticipated for the fourth quarter. However, Delta beat earnings per share expectations and projected a 20% profit jump in 2026, citing strong travel demand.
“We expect not just a 20% increase in EPS for the year,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning. “We’re expecting a 50% increase in EPS for the first quarter.”
Bookings have been solid for both leisure and business travel in 2026 so far, according to the Atlanta-based company.
4. Foreign fees
US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters about the Israel-Iran conflict, aboard Air Force One on June 24, 2025, while traveling to attend the NATO’s Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague in the Netherlands.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
Trump said on social media yesterday that he would institute a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran, effective immediately. The president did not provide any other details about the order, which he said was “final and conclusive,” and a White House spokesperson declined to answer CNBC’s questions about the policy.
The new tariff — an apparent effort to economically isolate the Middle Eastern country — comes after Trump threatened to take military action against Iran over the reported killing of dozens of anti-government protesters.
5. Hey, Siri
Matteo Della Torre | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Siri is getting an artificial-intelligence powered upgrade with the help of Alphabet.
The Google parent’s Gemini models will be used to help Apple roll out an enhanced version of its virtual assistant software, the companies announced in a joint statement obtained by CNBC. The upgraded Siri is expected later this year.
As CNBC’s Samantha Subin notes, the deal marks another win for Google in the AI race against OpenAI.
The Daily Dividend
Shares of Alphabet rose after the Siri announcement yesterday, helping it become the fourth company to reach a $4 trillion market cap. Here’s what the path has looked like for Class C shares:
CNBC’s Jeff Cox, Garrett Downs, Emily Wilkins, Sean Conlon, Hugh Son, Leslie Josephs, Kevin Breuninger, Samantha Subin and Jennifer Elias contributed to this report. Josephine Rozzelle edited this edition.
