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Nobody seems to care that Nvidia's P/E multiple has been shrinking since the summer. View More

A day after Jensen Huang unveiled a new chip and updated guidance at Nvidia's annual GTC conference, the stock is ... not doing much. That raises the question: Was this year's keynote a disappointment? Has the stock simply run out of steam? Nvidia has one of the most frustrating stocks in the market, especially for fundamental investors like us. The problem isn't that the stock has been flat for eight months; it's that the stock has been flat despite positive updates after positive updates, including blockbuster earnings reports. That makes it a classic case of a broken stock, not a broken company. What we heard at GTC demands that we maintain a position in the name and reminds us that this remains a stock to be owned long-term, not traded. For those who don't own any Nvidia shares, the muted response to a remarkable keynote presents a buying opportunity. There are many reasons a stock gets stuck. In the case of Nvidia, it may have something to do with the options market and hedging activities on the part of the liquidity providers known as market makers and large shareholders that essentially render the stock "pinned" around current levels. Without getting too far into the weeds, the main point is that the stock's lack of momentum may be tied to market mechanics more than anything else. Could there be other forces keeping a lid on the stock? Sure. We could always blame investor sentiment, but it's hard to believe they're souring on a company that keeps humming. After all, the consolidation certainly isn't due to a lack of growth. Annual revenue growth is set to accelerate over the next two quarters. What about further out on the horizon, because we know some investors always seem to be worried that AI spending is peaking? Well, one of the big headlines from Jensen's keynote was the disclosure that Nvidia has high-confidence visibility into at least $1 trillion in revenue from Blackwell and Vera Rubin between 2025 and 2027. In effect, Jensen told us to expect several billion dollars in sales upside in each of the next eight quarters. Grace Blackwell is Nvidia's current-generation AI computing platform. Rubin is its successor and is on track to launch later this year. Coming into the keynote, analysts expected total data center revenue of about $960 billion over this three-year period, according to FactSet. That means about $40 billion in upside over the next eight quarters, or about $5 billion per quarter. Importantly, the $1 trillion figure appears to be a revenue floor, not a wildly speculative outlook from management. The reason: It encompasses only Nvidia's high-confidence visibility into sales for Blackwell and Rubin-era systems. Jensen made that clear during his interview with Jim Cramer on CNBC earlier Tuesday. In other words, not included in this figure are Nvidia's fledgling business selling standalone CPUs, which Jensen on Monday labeled a multi-billion-dollar business opportunity. Since launching its first-ever central processing unit (CPU) in early 2023, Nvidia has always sold them alongside its bread-and-butter graphics processing units (GPUs) in server racks. Additionally, it doesn't include standalone networking sales or the new Groq-infused inference chip. That Groq wasn't included is particularly noteworthy given that Jensen said he believes around 25% of workloads that will run on Vera Rubin can benefit even more from running on Groq's inference-focused chip. The line of sight to $1 trillion in revenue also doesn't include any of Nvidia's segments outside the data center, with arguably the most exciting being its automotive business. While roughly 1% of sales last fiscal year, Nvidia's auto unit has the potential to generate billions in recurring sales over time as autonomous vehicle technology improves and more driverless vehicles hit the road in the coming years. So, what do we do when no amount of good news seems to get Nvidia shares moving higher again? For starters, we must remember the investing rule that "giving up on value is a sin." We also must remember that, in the near term, the stock market is a voting machine. In the long run, however, it's a weighing machine. Nvidia has only gotten more valuable during this stalled-out period. When a company's share price doesn't move but its earnings keep growing, the stock is becoming cheaper by the day, as measured by its price-to-earnings ratio. For now, nobody seems to care that Nvidia's P/E multiple has been shrinking since the summer. The market is in voting-machine mode. That can last a while, and it certainly has. Investors have been given reason after reason to conclude Nvidia's growth can't sustain — be it concerns that their customers are "recklessly" draining their cash flow, to a war in Iran, supply chain bottlenecks, and competition from the likes of Google's in-house silicon. At some point, the increasing weight of earnings growth demands attention. We believe the market will eventually be forced to acknowledge that the stock has been trading at a far cheaper valuation than previously thought. We don't know exactly when that will happen or what will cause it. Perhaps it will be on the back of a strong earnings print or some other announcement like a capital expenditure guide from a key customer. Without a crystal ball, it's better to simply stick with the stock and wait for the market to come to its senses, rather than try to trade in and out of the name. The stock's valuation is getting a bit ridiculous considering what we know about Nvidia's book of business for this year and next. We're not alone. Bernstein analysts told clients Tuesday morning that the stock looks "almost absurdly valued." Nvidia shares are trading at roughly 17 times the 2027 earnings per share (EPS) consensus of $10.68, according to FactSet. It's even cheaper than that, given analysts are likely reworking their models to account for Jensen's $1 trillion disclosure. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald actually see a path to $15 in earnings in 2027, which, if realized, would put the stock at about 12 times 2027 earnings. As of Tuesday, the S & P 500 is trading at roughly 18 times 2027 earnings estimates, per FactSet. Of course, the start of 2027 is still many months away. But this goes to show that if Nvidia doesn't catch a bid soon, we're going to be looking at a stock that likely trades below 15 times forward estimates — assuming analysts do upwardly revise their earnings estimates and Nvidia books additional orders for 2027. That could happen by the end of this year. At that point, it's going to get very hard to ignore the stock. In what world should the dominant maker of AI chips trade at a lower valuation than spice maker McCormick, which currently trades at roughly 17 times 2027 estimates? That's not a knock on McCormick. It makes great seasonings, especially Lawry's, which is pretty good on a can of tuna, by the way. But it's not exactly developing technology on par with electricity or the internet. As annoying as this stint of consolidation has been, we must remember that investing is about discipline, and the disciplined thing to do is to wait patiently, or even to take advantage of those who have given up and moved on from the stock in frustration. We do understand that there is an opportunity cost to holding a stock that does nothing for an extended period; however, it's important to acknowledge that even with this eight-month period of inaction, the stock is still up more than 50% over the past year. We suspect more upside is in the cards as we work our way through 2026 and the stock simply becomes too cheap to ignore. (Jim Cramer's Charitable Trust is long NVDA and GOOGL. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pointed to a fast-rising project called OpenClaw as a major step forward in how people interact with AI. View More

In this articleNVDAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO2:4802:48Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: OpenClaw is 'definitely the next ChatGPT'Mad Money with Jim Cramer Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday pointed to a fast-rising AI project called OpenClaw as a major step forward in how people interact with artificial intelligence."It is now the largest, most popular, the most successful open-sourced project in the history of humanity," Jensen told Jim Cramer in a "Mad Money" interview from the sidelines of Nvidia's GTC event in California. "This is definitely the next ChatGPT," the CEO asserted.OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent platform that goes beyond traditional chatbots. Instead of answering questions, these agents can complete tasks, make decisions, and take actions with minimal input from users.Nvidia moved quickly to build around OpenClaw's momentum. The AI chip leader on Monday announced NemoClaw, an enterprise-grade version of OpenClaw that layers Nvidia's software stack and tools on top of the platform. The goal is to make these powerful AI agents secure, scalable, and ready for real-world use.Jensen described the technology as a foundational shift that could drastically expand what individuals can do with AI. "In one line of code, you can create for yourself your own agent. Then after that, just ask the agent to do whatever you want," he said. watch nowVIDEO14:0714:07Nvidia CEO: We have the most energy efficient architecture in the worldMad Money with Jim Cramer The CEO illustrated the concept with a real-world example: designing a kitchen. With a short prompt, an OpenClaw agent could study images, learn design tools, iterate on ideas, and improve its own output – all autonomously. "They'll go off and learn how to design a kitchen. It will come back with design and reflect on that," Jensen said, describing how the system can refine its own work.The broader implication, he added, is the growth of individual expertise. "Every carpenter can now be an architect. Every plumber will become an architect. We are going to elevate the capabilities of everyone," he said.To be sure, the rapid rise of autonomous AI agents like OpenClaw has also raised concerns around security, privacy, and control – particularly as these systems gain the ability to act independently.That's where Nvidia sees its role. With NemoClaw, Nvidia is building guardrails, including privacy protections, oversight tools, and enterprise-grade security to ensure these agents can be deployed safely at scale. Addressing those risks will be critical to unlocking the next wave of AI adoption – one where agents don't just assist but act on a human's behalf. VIDEO11:1211:12Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang: We are expanding beyond the hyperscalers Jim Cramer's Guide to InvestingClick here to download Jim Cramer's Guide to Investing at no cost to help you build long-term wealth and invest smarter. Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer's every move in the market.DisclaimerQuestions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer's world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter - Jim Cramer Twitter - Facebook - InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the "Mad Money" website? madcap@cnbc.com Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Lululemon topped fourth-quarter estimates but gave weaker-than-expected sales and earnings forecasts for 2026. View More

A pedestrian walks past the logo outside a Lululemon retail store in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, Feb. 27, 2026.Cheng Xin | Getty Images Lululemon offered a weak 2026 outlook on Tuesday as tariffs, higher expenses and a dramatic proxy battle with its founder weigh on its bottom line. The athleisure company's guidance for both the current quarter and the fiscal year came in lower than expected on the top and bottom lines. Lululemon is expecting first-quarter sales to be between $2.40 billion and $2.43 billion, weaker than estimates of $2.47 billion, according to LSEG. It anticipates earnings per share will range between $1.63 and $1.68, also weaker than estimates of $2.07. For the full year, Lululemon is expecting sales to be between $11.35 billion and $11.50 billion, below expectations of $11.52 billion. Earnings guidance of $12.10 to $12.30 per share was also far weaker than estimates of $12.58. "The work is really underway in terms of our action plan, and we're really focused on the importance of course correcting on a number of fronts," interim co-CEO Meghan Frank told CNBC in an interview. "We've got a new creative director, his first line is hitting in Q1, we are seeing some green shoots, I would say, from the product in Q1 so we're excited about some of the momentum we have on that line item. We have had some great response from some of our recent product activations, and then we're also reducing our speed to market timeline."During Lululemon's holiday quarter, the company beat estimates on both the top and bottom lines, though Wall Street had lowered its expectations for the period in recent months. Here's how the Vancouver-based retailer performed during its fiscal fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was anticipating, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:Earnings per share: $5.01 vs. $4.78 expectedRevenue: $3.64 billion vs. $3.58 billion expected The company's net income for the three-month period that ended Feb. 1 was $586.9 million, or $5.01 per share, compared with $748.4 million, or $6.14 per share, a year earlier. Sales rose slightly to $3.64 billion, up about 1% from $3.61 billion a year earlier.Lululemon raised its fiscal fourth-quarter guidance during the ICR conference in Orlando earlier this year, so all eyes were on the company's 2026 guidance following more than a year of underperformance. The retailer, always considered a premium brand that rarely offered promotions, had been leaning on discounts to drive sales and move inventory. The company is now working to pull back that strategy this year, Frank said. Lululemon expects the move will weigh on sales in the near term, but it will bring the company back to a full-price business over time, she said. Meanwhile, it's seeing a number of pressures on its bottom line. Higher tariffs and the end of the de minimis exemption continue to be a major cost for the company.This year, Lululemon expects tariffs to cost the company $380 million, up from $275 million last year, on a gross basis. Once mitigation efforts are taken into account, the net impact is expected to be $220 million in 2026, up from $213 million in 2025. Lululemon has been negotiating with suppliers and taking other actions to reduce its exposure to tariffs, but it isn't increasing prices to offset the added costs, especially as it looked to promotions to drive sales in recent months. The brand was already priced toward the high end of the market prior to President Donald Trump's tariff hikes last year, leaving it with fewer tools in its arsenal to offset the duties, especially as it faces intense competition and a slowdown in the athleisure market. Last year, the company raised prices on a select number of items. Shoppers are still responding favorably so far, but there are no plans to build on those increases for now, said Frank. Beyond tariffs, the company is also seeing higher expenses from marketing, labor, incentives and costs related to its proxy contest with founder Chip Wilson. Wilson, Lululemon's largest independent shareholder, has been pressuring the company to make changes to its board of directors and has criticized it for losing sight of its creative vision.  Just before releasing earnings, Lululemon announced it was adding former Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh to its board of directors. Bergh was not among the candidates Wilson put forward for consideration, but he does have considerable public company experience and spent around 13 years as Levi's CEO. During his tenure with the company, Levi began pursuing a more profitable direct selling strategy and sales rose by around 30%. As part of the announcement, Lululemon said board member David Mussafer, managing partner and chairman of private equity firm Advent, will not stand for re-election during the company's upcoming 2026 shareholder meeting at the conclusion of his current three-year term. The announcement marks a win for Wilson, who has criticized Mussafer publicly. In a letter to shareholders last month, Wilson pointed out that Mussafer was overseeing the board's interview process for prospective nominees at a time when he was up for election, creating a potential conflict of interest. A source familiar with the matter said Wilson had called on Mussafer to step down from the board because he lacks independent leadership, among other issues. Mussafer didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Prior to the earnings announcement, Wilson issued a statement saying shareholders will be "critically evaluating" any claims of success or improvement from Lululemon when it released results. "The core issue at lululemon is one the Company has struggled with for years: there is a disconnect between the Company's creative engine and the Board's understanding for how brand power and product excellence fuel cultural strength, margin durability and long-term shareholder value," he said. Lululemon declined to comment. While parts of Lululemon's business are still growing, it has primarily seen that expansion in China and in other international regions, which make up a fraction of overall revenue. Same-store sales in its largest region, the Americas, haven't grown in around two years, and Lululemon is expecting another year of declines in 2026. The company said it expects sales in the Americas to decline between 1% and 3% in 2026. Meanwhile, sales in China are expected to grow around 20%, and the rest of the world by a mid-teens percentage. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Rising oil prices and the fallout of the Iran war are worsening the economic divide, experts say. View More

In this articleFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT A sign displays the prices of unleaded gasoline at a Chevron gas station in Palo Alto, California, US, on Tuesday, March 10, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Iran war — and the accompanying spike in oil and gasoline prices — risks exacerbating the so-called K-shaped economy, economists said. The term, which emerged during the Covid-19 pandemic, uses the letter K to illustrate diverging economic experiences: higher-income households do better and better, forming the upward arm, while lower-income households fall further behind, forming the downward arm. watch nowVIDEO4:4004:40No ceiling for retail gasoline prices until resolution in Iran, says OPIS' Denton CinquegranaThe Exchange Economists said a rise in oil and gasoline prices acts as a tax on household spending power that tends to hurt low earners more than the wealthy. Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University, said he worries that the dynamic fuels the economy's K shape. "That, I think, is a major concern as an economist: inequality," Bloom said Monday during a Harvard Kennedy School webinar on the economic consequences of the Iran war. Iran war leads oil, gasoline prices to soar A driver refuels a vehicle at a Chevron gas station in Rodeo, California, US, on Monday, March 2, 2026. David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images The war has effectively halted traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime shipping route for global oil supplies, amounting to the biggest oil supply disruption in history.Oil prices — and those for gasoline, which is refined from crude oil — have soared as a result. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, is up more than 40% since the conflict began on Feb. 28, to about $102 per barrel as of 2 p.m. E.T. on Tuesday. The national average gasoline price reached $3.79 a gallon as of Tuesday, up about 87 cents per gallon, or 30%, from a month ago, according to AAA. Read more CNBC personal finance coverageIran war, oil price surge worsen K-shaped economy, say economistsMore than 576,000 student loan borrowers in repayment plan backlog: court filingSome economists are warning about 'stagflation.' What it may mean for your moneyEmployers say AI makes workers faster, but it also creates 'friction': surveyTravel disruptions keep piling up in 2026. How to plan ahead and limit the impactMore women pursue skilled trades — here's what some said about their experienceOlder women may inherit most of $54 trillion in spousal 'great wealth transfer'Average IRS tax refund is up 10.6%, filing data showsIRS paper check changes trigger tax refund delays for more than 830,000 filersDid tariff dividend checks just become more likely? Economists weigh in'High oil prices are not good for mortgage rates,' economist says. What to knowIran war heightens affordability issues ahead of the Fed's March meetingCouples often miss this 'overlooked tax break' for retirement savers: CFPTrump administration has scaled back oversight of student loan servicers: GAOSocial Security 2027 COLA forecast may rise with high oil pricesCNBC's Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors, top firms ranked Average gasoline prices are higher than at any point since October 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration."This is especially hard on lower- and middle-income households, who have little or no financial resources, and so if they need to put more of their earnings in their gas tank, they have to cut other spending or pay on their credit cards and other debts more slowly," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's. "Higher gasoline prices act like a regressive tax, as lower-income households devote a higher share of their budget to energy," he said. What is a K-shaped economy? The notion of wealth and income inequality isn't new. Stock market rallies and appreciating home values tend to buoy the upper echelon, who disproportionately own such assets, and leave lower-income households behind. However, the Covid-19 pandemic turbocharged those dynamics — as stock and housing wealth soared and lower earners struggled to recover from high unemployment and rising prices — giving rise to the concept of a K-shaped economy.Before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, the high cost of living caused a growing affordability crisis, which also contributed to an increasingly bifurcated nation.  Now, gasoline prices are dragging down the lower prong of the K, too. Michael Klein, an economics professor at Tufts University, said higher oil prices — similar to tariffs — act as a "tax on people's ability to spend."In this case, households pay the tax to oil companies, not the federal government, he said during the webinar on the Iran war's economic impact.If households spend more of their income on gasoline, they have less income to buy other goods and services, Klein said. That shift in consumer consumption could have a negative impact on the U.S. economy, since consumer spending accounts for the bulk of the nation's gross domestic product, he said. Oil prices affect food, travel and other sectors Travelers at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, US, on Monday, March 9, 2026.Mark Felix | Bloomberg | Getty Images Volatile oil prices have a knock-on effect, driving prices higher in other sectors of the economy, experts said. For example, U.S. diesel prices on Tuesday topped $5 per gallon for the first time since 2022, when Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted global energy markets. That drives up trucking costs, for example, which could, in turn, push up the prices of food and other goods and services, economists said.Global prices for jet fuel, a major cost component for airlines, are up about 83% over the past month, according to International Air Transport Association data as of March 13."Higher fuel costs, along with the downstream effects on shipping, travel, and trade, are likely to add further pressure to consumer prices," said certified financial planner Stephen Kates, a financial analyst at Bankrate.Often, companies pass at least some of that expense on to consumers. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

OpenAI has hired the former DocuSign CFO Cynthia Gaylor to run investor relations as the company gears up for a potential IPO. View More

Fidji Simo, CEO of Instacart Inc., speaks during an interview in San Francisco, March 3, 2022.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images OpenAI is focusing employee and investor attention on its enterprise business as the artificial intelligence startup gears up to go public, potentially by the end of the year, CNBC has learned. Fidji Simo, OpenAI's CEO of Applications, held an all-hands meeting with staffers last week and said the company is committed to helping businesses, and is "orienting aggressively" towards high-productivity use cases. OpenAI kickstarted the generative AI boom with the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, and the chatbot now supports more than 900 million weekly active users. But the company is still racing to grab market share, particularly in the enterprise, away from rivals like Google and Anthropic, which is also weighing an IPO. "Our opportunity now is to take those 900 million users and turn them into high-compute users," Simo said, according to a partial transcript of the meeting reviewed by CNBC. "We'll do that by transforming ChatGPT into a productivity tool." The Wall Street Journal was first to report the all-hands meeting. OpenAI's IPO could land as soon as the fourth quarter of this year, according to a person familiar with the matter. The exact timing is still subject to change, said the person, who asked not to be named because the details are confidential. CFO Sarah Friar is building out OpenAI's finance team ahead of a market debut, hiring Ajmere Dale, the former chief accounting officer at Block, and Cynthia Gaylor, the former CFO of DocuSign, earlier this year. Gaylor will oversee investor relations as part of her role, according to a LinkedIn post. In December, OpenAI declared a "code red" effort to improve ChatGPT in the face of increasingly stiff competition from Google and Anthropic. The company temporarily pulled back on other investments in areas like health, shopping and advertising. Simo said during the March all-hands meeting that OpenAI is moving with the same amount of urgency that it did in December, but noted that the company can't declare everything an emergency."What really matters for us right now is staying focused and executing extremely well," Simo said.OpenAI has also been working to outline clearer spending targets after rattling markets with ambitious infrastructure commitments in late 2025. Instead of the $1.4 trillion figure that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had been touting, the company told investors in February that it's targeting roughly $600 billion in total compute spend by 2030, CNBC previously reported. OpenAI is projecting that its total revenue for 2030 will be more than $280 billion, with nearly equal contributions from its consumer and enterprise businesses. The $600 billion figure the company is offering is meant to more directly tie to its expected revenue growth.WATCH: OpenAI renews focus on enterprise in all-hands meeting amid IPO push watch nowVIDEO1:3401:34OpenAI renews focus on enterprise in all-hands meeting amid IPO pushTechCheck Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

"Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation," Kent wrote in his letter to President Donald Trump. View More

Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testifies during the House Homeland Security Committee hearing titled "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," in Cannon building on Wednesday, December 11, 2025. Tom Williams | Cq-roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent on Tuesday announced he will resign in response to the Trump administration's war against Iran. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war," Kent said in a letter addressed to President Donald Trump, that was posted on Kent's personal X account.Kent, a promoter of far-right conspiracy theories whom the Senate narrowly confirmed for the director role last July, accused the president of being deceived by Israel into supporting the war."Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby," Kent wrote in his letter.Trump disputed Kent's claims later Tuesday."I always thought he was a nice guy, but I always thought he was weak on security," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a bilateral meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.After reading Kent's statement, "I realized that it's a good thing that he's out," Trump said, because "every country realized what a threat Iran was."The comments came shortly after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an X post that Kent was parroting "the same false claim that Democrats and some in the liberal media have been repeating over and over."Trump "had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first," and he "would never make the decision to deploy military assets against a foreign adversary in a vacuum," Leavitt said.She also called Kent's claims about Israel's influence on Trump "both insulting and laughable."The National Counterterrorism Center did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.The director of the NCTC leads U.S. counterterrorism and counternarcotics efforts and advises the president directly. An hour after Kent announced his resignation, he was still listed as the center's director on its official government website.The NCTC is housed within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, led by Tulsi Gabbard, a once-vocal opponent of war with Iran who has kept quiet on the Trump administration's latest military actions. Gabbard was scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Intelligence Committee, but the hearing was postponed until Thursday.In an X post Tuesday afternoon, Gabbard did not directly comment on Kent, and she did not explicitly endorse the view that the U.S. faced an imminent threat from Iran.Trump is "responsible for determining what is and is not an imminent threat" and whether to take action in response, Gabbard wrote. The ODNI's job is to "coordinate and integrate all intelligence" to provide the president "with the best information available to inform his decisions," she wrote."After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion," Gabbard wrote.Kent, 45, is a U.S. Army veteran and former CIA paramilitary officer who was deployed to the Middle East 11 times over 20 years, according to his official bio. His first wife, U.S. Navy officer Shannon Kent, was killed by a suicide bomber in 2019 while deployed to Syria.Joe Kent ran for Congress in Washington as a Republican in 2022 and 2024, losing both races to Democratic Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. He later served as Gabbard's acting chief of staff. Trump nominated Kent to lead the NCTC in February 2025, saying he will "help us keep America safe by eradicating all terrorism, from the jihadists around the World, to the cartels in our backyard." Read more CNBC politics coverageEverything to know about the SAVE America Act voter ID-billEpstein files: House panel subpoenas AG Pam Bondi for April 14 depositionTrump slams NATO allies for not joining Iran war effort, says U.S. never needed their help Kent has echoed Trump's false claim that the 2020 presidential election was "rigged" and suggested that the FBI was involved in planning and directing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.During his April 2025 nomination hearing in the Senate, Kent said the U.S. intelligence community is investigating the FBI's role in the riot.Kent's resignation announcement Tuesday morning drew divisive reactions. Opponents of the war, including both Democrats and some who have identified with Trump's MAGA movement, praised Kent. "Joe Kent's record is deeply troubling, and in my view he never should have been confirmed to lead the National Counterterrorism Center," Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a statement. "But on this point, he is right: there was no credible evidence of an imminent threat from Iran that would justify rushing the United States into another war of choice in the Middle East."But Trump's allies pushed back on Kent's assertion that Iran posed no imminent threat to the U.S."I got all the briefings. We all understood there was clearly an imminent threat that Iran was very close to the enrichment of nuclear capability," House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters on Capitol Hill."I don't know where Joe Kent is getting his information, but he wasn't in those briefings, clearly," Johnson said.Others attacked Kent in personal terms."Joe Kent is a crazed egomaniac who was often at the center of national security leaks, while rarely (never?) producing any actual work," Taylor Budowich, Trump's former deputy White House chief of staff and a political consultant, said in an X post."This isn't some principled resignation — he just wanted to make a splash before getting canned. What a loser," Budowich said.— CNBC's Emily Wilkins contributed to this report. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The Federal Reserve has little choice but to stay on the sidelines this week. View More

watch nowVIDEO4:2504:25How the Iran war is impacting Fed rate cutsEconomy The Federal Reserve has little choice but to stay on the sidelines this week as it navigates a mix of complicated and conflicting forces playing out in the U.S. economy.Markets are pricing in a near-zero chance that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee will be cutting at this meeting — or any other in the near future. Futures pricing suggests policymakers won't consider easing until at least September, more likely October, and even then just a single cut this year.For Wednesday's decision, Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues have to wrestle with the Iran war, fears of an inflation spike and mixed signals from the labor market. The combination of factors all but assures the Fed will stand pat, keeping its key interest rate targeted between 3.5% to 3.75%. Updates to economic and rate projections also aren't expected to show major changes."The decision itself is almost guaranteed — a rate hold at the March meeting. But any hints Chair Powell might drop about the path of future interest rates will be key," said BeiChen Lin, senior investment strategist at Russell Investments. "Broadly speaking, the U.S. economy is still on solid footing. This means however that the bar for further rate cuts in the U.S. may be quite elevated."Even before the war, traders weren't expecting a cut at this week's meeting. Instead, they expected the FOMC would wait until June, then cut at least once more before the end of the year, according to the CME Group's FedWatch pricing. However, the attacks — and their impact on oil and inflation — have changed the market's calculus, even though Fed officials generally look through the types of oil shocks that have accompanied the fighting.As such, all eyes will be on Powell's messaging. If things go as planned, this will be Powell's next-to-last meeting as chair, so markets might be wary of reading too much into the chair's statements. Forging the future "With an April cut almost entirely priced out, Powell's ability to guide markets depends on the extent to which they perceive his comments as representing the committee's consensus rather than his own views," Bank of America Fed-watchers said in a note. "Even setting this constraint aside, Powell will have his work cut out for him."Former Fed Vice Chair Roger Ferguson told CNBC he expects the committee to be "circumspect" in its post-meeting statement as it characterizes inflation, unemployment, economic growth and the expected path of policy. watch nowVIDEO4:4304:43Roger Ferguson: I wouldn't firmly pencil in two rate cuts this year just yetSquawk Box "The question in front of everyone's minds is, what do they say, if anything, about the future and how they think about changing the balance of risks," he said.In weighing the labor market against inflation, Ferguson said he'd prefer the Fed focus on prices."I'm more worried about higher inflation. You know, the Fed has a 2% target. They've been away from that target for multiple years now, actually," he said. "At some point, it's going to start to come into question whether or not the 2% target is really what the Fed's aiming at, and so I am much more worried about that." Watching the dot plot Investors will get a deeper look into the committee's thinking when it releases updates to the Summary of Economic Projections. Within that release is the Fed's closely watched "dot plot" grid of individual officials' expectations for interest rates.However, most observers expect few changes in the SEP or the dot plot: The Fed could nudge up economic growth and inflation a bit from the last update in December, but the rate outlook is expected to remain largely intact. Officials in December indicated that they see just one cut this year, and the consensus is figured to hold even with the dissents that have accompanied recent Fed decisions."Looking at their communications, they will likely emphasize that the conflict in the Middle East has added further uncertainty to the outlook for both inflation and employment. However, their forecasts could look remarkably similar to three months ago," wrote David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. On top of everything else, there's also a lingering political air over the Fed. President Donald Trump for years has been pressing the central bank, and Powell in particular, to cut rates. In an appearance before media members Monday, Trump again lashed out at the chair, saying that Powell should have called a special meeting. "What's a better time to cut interest rates than now? A third-grade student would know that," Trump said.However, Trump's own Justice Department is holding up replacing Powell. His nomination of Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell in May is being held up by a case U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro is pursuing against Powell over the Fed's headquarters renovation. Until that is resolved, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he will block the Warsh nomination in the Senate Banking Committee. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC's Phil LeBeau that Delta had taken a $400 million fuel hit in the quarter, but that demand has been "really, really great." View More

In this articleJBLUDALAALFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT watch nowVIDEO6:3606:36Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on state of travel, rising jet fuel costs and TSA staffing shortageSquawk Box Several airlines raised their revenue expectations for the first quarter on Tuesday, despite carriers dealing with higher jet fuel prices since the war in Iran started.Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC's Phil LeBeau that Delta had taken a $400 million hit so far for the fourth quarter, but that demand has been "really, really great," which was leading to higher revenue growth than the airline had originally guided for. "The higher revenue is offsetting the cost of not just the fuel, but we've also had a pretty tough winter season in terms of storms," he said. "So you put that all together, we're expecting to come in within the original guidance of 50 to 90 cents EPS."Delta had previously forecast an increase in sales of as much as 7% in the first three months of 2026 and adjusted earnings of between 50 cents per share and 90 cents per share for the first quarter. The airline now said it expects first-quarter revenue to grow at a high-single-digit percentage.Meanwhile, American Airlines said in a securities filing Tuesday that it expects total revenue to increase by more than 10%, compared with previous expectations of 7% to 10%, due to stronger-than-expected demand."The revenue growth for American in the first quarter is incredibly strong, and we see that progressing as we move throughout the year," CEO Robert Isom said at a JPMorgan conference Tuesday.Shares of Delta closed up 6%, while American ended the day up 3%. Read more CNBC airline newsUnited CEO Scott Kirby says higher airfare could be ahead after fuel price spikeIran war threatens $11.7 trillion global travel industry as passengers get caught in crossfireUnited Airlines is overhauling its MileagePlus loyalty program to favor credit cardholdersSpirit Airlines plans to slash flights, fleet in bid to emerge from bankruptcy as early as spring Jet fuel is airlines' second-biggest cost and accounts for a fifth or more of expenses, depending on the carrier. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CNBC in early March that higher airfares were likely on the way as airlines cover the rising fuel costs. On Tuesday at the JPMorgan conference, Kirby said United, which did not update its guidance, has a goal this year to fully offset the increase in fuel prices, adding that the "revenue environment is really strong." "Where this gets really interesting is if fuel prices stay higher for longer," Kirby said. "I think there's a reasonable chance that happens, and if it does, it's going to further accelerate the gap between the loyal airlines and everyone else."Isom said Tuesday that American would also incur a roughly $400 million hit to its first-quarter expenses, in part due to the rising fuel prices."As we take a look at all the turbulence that's in the industry right now, we're making sure that we're set to deliver, no matter what comes our way," Isom said. In an 8-K filed Tuesday morning, Delta said it was raising revenue guidance due to momentum in demand, citing strength across the main cabin, premium, loyalty and more. The airline also said its domestic and international unit revenues are growing in the mid-single digits year over year. Delta added that it has its strongest balance sheet in the company's history.Bastian said most of Delta's revenue comes from higher-spending customers who still want to travel, as well as from corporate customers."We've seen eight of the top 10 sales days in our history this quarter, and five of those just within the last two weeks, within just the last week of March," he said. "Even with the war going on, our revenues, our bookings are up 25% year over year."Last quarter's bookings are a softer comparison as airlines dealt with customers pulling back over tariff concerns.JetBlue Airways also raised its operating revenue guidance. While it previously called for no change to a 4% increase in operating revenue, the airline now said it expects a 5% to 7% increase. JetBlue said demand for travel in the first quarter strengthened, helping to offset fuel costs and disruptions from winter storms.The airline also said its premium and core cabin segments improved in the first quarter.Southwest Airlines CEO Bob Jordan said Tuesday at the JPMorgan conference that the airline's forecast from its fourth-quarter earnings in January is "fully on track.""There's broad-based revenue strength, but we are seeing specific revenue strengths in the products, the new initiatives and products that we're selling at Southwest," Jordan said, acknowledging that rising jet fuel prices could be a wildcard. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

The Arizona charges are the first criminal charges to have been filed against Kalshi, though the company is embroiled in multiple lawsuits over its predictions platform. View More

The Kalshi market "Will Iran effectively close the Strait of Hormuz for 7+ days?" appears on a smartphone screen, with the Kalshi logo displayed on a laptop computer screen in the background, in this photo illustration taken in Chania, Greece, March 9, 2026.Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images Arizona's attorney general has filed misdemeanor criminal charges against Kalshi, accusing the predictions platform of running an illegal gambling and election wagering operation in the state. These are the first criminal charges to have been filed against Kalshi, though the company is embroiled in multiple lawsuits and investigations and has received dozens of cease-and-desist letters across the nation. Prediction platforms like Kalshi have drawn comparisons to online sports gambling as they allow users to wager on the outcomes of events in pop culture, politics, sports and more. Multiple states have argued that legalizing and regulating sports betting is under the jurisdiction of local regulators and outside the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which regulates event contracts and the prediction markets.States including Michigan and Massachusetts have filed civil lawsuits aimed at stopping operations or compelling Kalshi to meet gambling license requirements.In the Arizona filing, Attorney General Kris Mayes charged Kalshi with 20 counts of accepting various bets in Arizona without a license, including wagers on state elections, which is separately and explicitly forbidden under Arizona law."No company gets to decide for itself which laws to follow," Mayes said in a statement. Kalshi draws distinctions between the event contracts it offers and what sportsbooks and casinos offer. "Sadly, a state can file criminal charges on paper thin arguments," the company said in a statement to CNBC. "States like Arizona want to individually regulate a nationwide financial exchange, and are trying every trick in the book to do it. As other courts have recognized and the CFTC affirms, Kalshi is subject to federal jurisdiction."Last week, Kalshi filed for a preliminary injunction to try and keep Arizona from enforcing its state laws.On Tuesday, federal judge Michael Liburdi denied Kalshi's request for a temporary restraining order and ordered Kalshi to demonstrate why the case should be in federal court given the state charges against Kalshi. Kalshi has preemptively sued to stop other states from taking punitive action, a strategy Mayes described as bullying states, "running to federal court to try and avoid accountability." Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach meticulously tracks suits and countersuits against the predictions platforms. He described the preemptive lawsuits as Kalshi's modus operandi. "That 'win the race to the courthouse' strategy has proven to be an effective tactic thus far," Wallach said, pointing to Kalshi's legal victories in getting preliminary injunctions in New Jersey and Tennessee. Wallach is not involved in any of Kalshi's legal disputes. Still, the Arizona attorney general's office highlighted Kalshi's recent loss for a preliminary injunction against Ohio, in which federal judge Sarah Morrison said Kalshi's concerns were "dwarfed by Ohio's interest in exercising its police power, enforcing its duly-enacted laws, and regulating sports gambling to promote the public welfare."CFTC Chair Michael Selig recently told CNBC the agency would require the prediction platforms, which currently self-certify, to do a better job of restricting event contracts that encourage manipulation, like, for instance, questions of whether an athlete would suffer an injury. watch nowVIDEO7:0607:06CFTC Chairman on prediction markets: It's important we don't have manipulation and insider tradingSquawk Box A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would prohibit event contracts on sports, unless a state were to specifically permit it. The bill would also ban entirely prediction markets on elections and government actions. As lawmakers, regulators and courts grapple with defining what gambling is, 61% of Americans report they view event contracts on prediction markets more like gambling than investing, according to a poll released Tuesday by Ipsos and the American Institute for Boys and Men.Disclosure: CNBC and Kalshi have a commercial relationship that includes a CNBC minority investment. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Trump, a longtime NATO critic, said he sees the alliance as a "one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us." View More

watch nowVIDEO3:1703:17President Trump on Iran war: 'We don't need help' from NATO alliesMoney Movers President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed the U.S.' NATO allies over their reluctance to get involved in the Iran war, before asserting that the U.S. does not need any help with its ongoing military operations.The alliance of 32 European and North American nations is "making a very foolish mistake," Trump said in the Oval Office during a meeting with the prime minister of Ireland, which is not a NATO member.Trump, a longtime NATO critic who has accused the organization of taking advantage of the U.S.' spending and military strength, called the members' hesitance to join the Iran war "a great test, because we don't need them, but they should have been there."Trump has claimed in recent days that numerous countries would be joining a coalition to aid the U.S. in Iran, including by helping to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil shipping route that has been choked off amid the war.He has called on "the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait" to "take care of that passage." But so far, no NATO countries have firmly committed to doing so. In a Truth Social post earlier Tuesday, Trump said he was "not surprised" at NATO because he views it as a "one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us.""Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance — WE NEVER DID!" Trump wrote.Oil prices rose shortly after Trump's post, which cast doubt on the prospect that a multistate coalition will reopen the key strait. Read more CNBC politics coverageEverything to know about the SAVE America Act voter ID-billEpstein files: House panel subpoenas AG Pam Bondi for April 14 depositionTrump slams NATO allies for not joining Iran war effort, says U.S. never needed their help Trump, in his Oval Office remarks, also suggested that his much-anticipated trip to China to meet with President Xi Jinping would take place in "about five or six weeks."Trump was expected to depart for the summit at the end of March, but his administration signaled in recent days that a delay was likely. The scheduling changes coincided with new turbulence between the two superpowers, related to the war against Iran — a major seller of oil to China — and a new U.S. investigation into Chinese trade practices. Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.