Energy Upheaval as U.S.-Iran Truce Crumbles Ahead of Delta Airlines (DAL) Earnings

Financial markets are churning as the shaky U.S.-Iran peace deal seemed to be collapsing, with President Donald Trump suggesting he views the ceasefire as “over” before a second day of retaliatory U.S. strikes. 

Energy markets in particular were roiled, with the U.S. crude oil futures benchmark surging roughly 9% over the past five trading days to near $74 per barrel with U.S. strikes in response to Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the crucial petroleum maritime shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz. While this development could throw many industries for a loop as whipsaw crude oil prices continue, Delta Airlines (DAL) stands out as a notable name to watch as it will report earnings in tomorrow’s premarket session.

Here are three things to watch for Delta’s Earnings: 

• Analyst Outlook: The Street is looking for earnings-per-share of $1.50 against last year’s number of $2.10 (-28.57%) and for revenue to come in at $17.74 billion vs. $16.65 billion (+6.59%) during the same time frame, according to Zacks. Analysts seemed bullish on Delta recently, with firms this week announcing price target hikes including Susquehanna ($108 from $78, kept positive), Deutsche Bank ($105 from $90), Morgan Stanley ($115 from $105, kept overweight), HSBC ($109 from $79), and more. However, these notes came before news of yesterday’s escalation in the U.S.-Iran war, so this could change some of the calculations behind these moves. 
• Travel Stock Energy Market Sensitivity: Travel stocks are especially sensitive to energy prices as planes and cruise ships use massive amounts of oil products. Airlines had to cope with significant volatility due to the overall energy market disruption, with the price of jet fuel more than doubling from $1.950 per gallon for the week of Dec. 26, 2025 to a recent peak of $4.160 for the week of May 1, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration U.S. Gulf Coast Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel Prices from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. For perspective, Delta used 988 million gallons of jet fuel in the first quarter of 2026 at an average adjusted price of $2.62 per gallon, according to its last earnings report. As such, traders may wish to keep an eye on other airlines such as United (UAL), Southwest (LUV), and JetBlue Airways (JBLU) as well as cruise lines like Carnival Corporation (CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), and Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL), in the coming days. 
• Technicals: Delta shares recently saw an abrupt reversal of fortunes, as they just hit all-time highs of 95.68 on Jul. 2 followed by a swift -10% swoon on the Iran headlines. The area near 87.39 represents an old high from Jun. 15 that was breached during yesterday’s decline, so the next old high that stands out as possible support could be near 83.76 based on a May 27 peak. In addition to a supportive horizontal level being broken, price also closed below the 21-day Exponential Moving Average that came in near 87 as well as a trendline that started with the lows from May 19 and connected subsequent lows from Jun. 11. The technical damage continued, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) fell below the 50-midline that separates bullish and bearish momentum. 

Economic Events (Thursday, July 9, ET)

• 08:30 AM: Initial Jobless Claims
• 09:00 AM: Fed Williams Speech
• 10:00 AM: Existing Home Sales (June)

Earnings

• Premarket (Thursday): PepsiCo (PEP), Simply Good Foods (SMPL)
• Postmarket (Thursday): WD40 (WDFC)
• Premarket (Friday): Delta Air Lines (DAL)
• Postmarket (Friday): n/a

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