Travelers look at a flight status board as flights are delayed and cancelled following a significant winter storm at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, January 26, 2026.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. airlines began canceling Sunday flights and waiving cancellation and change fees for airports from Virginia to Maine ahead of another massive winter storm on the East Coast, set to once again put carriers to the test at the tail-end of winter break.
Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and Spirit Airlines waived fees and fare differences for passengers if they can travel as late as Feb. 26. Southwest Airlines said customers are eligible for a change without paying a difference in fare if they can rebook to fly or fly standby within two weeks.
The storm could bring between 13 and 18 inches of snow to parts of southern Connecticut and southeast New York, as well as winds of up to 55 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The blizzard warning is set to begin at 6 a.m. ET Sunday.
As of 4:30 pm ET Saturday, close to 400 U.S. flights were canceled, according to FlightAware. Delta had the most, with 174 cancellations or 5% of its mainline schedule. New York airports, which make up a major Delta hub, were the most affected by Sunday’s disruptions.
The National Weather Service raised its initial assessment of the potential severity of a storm. The weather service now says 1 to 2 feet (about 30 to 61 centimeters) of snow is possible in many areas. Blizzard warnings were also issued for New York City, Long Island, southern Connecticut and coastal communities in New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The weather service warned that the storm’s steady winds of 25 to 35 mph (40 to 56 kph) would “make travel dangerous, if not impossible.”
Winter Storm Fern in January, followed by bitter cold, caused mass travel disruptions across a large swath of the U.S.
Read more CNBC airline news
American Airlines had struggled to recover, drawing harsh criticism from flight crews, some of whom were stranded and had to sleep at airports, heightening tension between frontline employees and the company’s CEO, Robert Isom.
The storm cost American between $150 million and $200 million in revenue, the carrier said last month on an earnings call.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (3rd L) and Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis (2nd R) attend a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran during a second round of US-Iranian talks with Washington pushing Tehran to make a deal to limit its nuclear programme, in Geneva on February 17, 2026.
Cyril Zingaro | Afp | Getty Images
Geopolitics will be the main theme of the day, with markets watching the high-stakes talks between the U.S. and Iran, as well as Ukraine and Russia, that are being held in Geneva.
The talks between Kyiv and Moscow represent the latest round of the U.S.-brokered negotiations between the countries as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears its 4-year mark.
The talks kicked off on Tuesday and are expected to enter their second and final day on Wednesday, with no concrete agreements yet reported. Russia reportedly struck Ukraine’s power infrastructure on Tuesday, drawing condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Washington’s and Tehran’s negotiations appear to be yielding more progress so far.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the sides reached a general understanding on “guiding principles,” Reuters reported, though that does not mean a deal on the countries’ longstanding nuclear disputes is imminent.
Still, Araghchi’s comments eased fears of an immediate conflict in the region, with oil futures down on Wednesday.
U.S. stock futures were trading slightly up on Wednesday, led by the Nasdaq which gained 0.25%. That was after a tepid session for U.S. equities on Tuesday, which saw major averages post slim gains.
Investors remain jittery about the impact of artificial intelligence. The software sector, which has already been under pressure due to fears of disruption by AI tools, continued to fall on Tuesday, with leaders such as CrowdStrike and ServiceNow losing 3.6% and 1.1%, respectively.
In an interview with CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal, the CEO of leading European start-up Mistral AI, predicted that more than 50% of enterprises’ current software could be replaced by AI.
He made the comments on the sidelines of India’s AI Impact summit which will continue this week. Major announcements have come from the event so far, such as a pledge from Adani to invest $100 billion into data centers in the country by 2035.
Also coming Wednesday will be consumer price inflation numbers from the UK, a day after jobs data showed the UK’s unemployment rate rose to a 5-year high while wage growth slowed in the last three months of 2025.
Shares of German multinational life sciences company Bayer will be in focus after its Monsanto unit said it had reached an agreement worth as much as $7.25 billion to resolve thousands of current and future lawsuits regarding concerns that its Roundup weedkiller caused cancer.
China exports add to freight trade slump for the biggest U.S. port. New data from the Port of Los Angeles shows that commitments made by China to buy more U.S. agricultural products have yet to materialize.
Meta expands Nvidia deal to use millions of AI chips. The new sweeping deal will see Meta use the chips, including Nvidia’s new standalone CPUs and next-generation Vera Rubin systems, in its AI data centers.
Nvidia is partnering with Indian VC firms in AI start-up push. The company says it was working with several major venture capital firms, to identify and fund AI start-ups in India’s growing AI market.
Iran partially closed the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz. State media reported the news citing “security precautions” as Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard conducts military drills in the waterway.
Japan export growth surges to over 3-year high. Exports climbed 16.8% year on year in January, sharply beating market expectations and growing at their fastest rate since November 2022.
[Pro] Appaloosa Management’s David Tepper bullish on Micron, Korean stocks. The billionaire hedge fund manager added to his Micron stake and took a position in Korean stocks, both of which are AI plays.
There’s nothing quite like the holiday rush in China for the Lunar New Year.
The Beijing city streets start emptying out several days in advance as the majority of residents return to their hometowns or travel elsewhere. A quiet calm replaces the normally tense atmosphere of people rushing to work or school.
So where are the locals going? Immersive experiences rank high.
The prospect of a U.S. attack on Iran has roiled oil prices this year, but analysts tell CNBC a strike would require more military commitment and be more complicated, than the U.S. is prepared for.
Brent crude April futures
Tensions are high, and despite talks last week in Oman, both sides remain at an impasse. U.S. President Donald Trump’s pressure on the Iranian regime escalated after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protestors across the country last month.
Trump said this week he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, even as Washington and Tehran prepare to resume talks. On Tuesday, he threatened Iran with “something very tough,” if it does not agree to Washington’s demands, which range from halting the country’s nuclear enrichment to cutting Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
The U.S. deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East in January. This brought the number of missile destroyers in the region to six, but, analysts say, this still wouldn’t be enough to topple the regime. Following through on his “something tough” threat would mean a prolonged conflict in a region Trump is wary of.
“U.S. forces in the region are not adequate to support a significant long-term military operation in Iran which would be necessary to achieve any major military objective,” Alireza Ahmadi, executive fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, told CNBC.
Trump has also dialed up his pressure on the Islamic Republic, applying financial pressure to an economy already crippled by sanctions. Just last month, he vowed to impose tariffs on any country that acquires any goods or services from Iran.
But it is unclear what could come next. “President Trump is notoriously unpredictable,” Ali Vaez, director of Iran Project at Crisis Group, told CNBC but added Trump is aware “the Iran problem set does not lend itself to clean and easy military options.”
Could the U.S. still attack Iran?
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told CNBC that “the cost of not attacking Iran would be huge,” adding, if he doesn’t, “Trump’s legacy will be as the president who enabled Iran to go nuclear.”
“The President is in a jam, his options are not great and it’s a very risky moment at this point,” Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, told CNBC’s Dan Murphy last week. McNally added the country’s ballistic missile program meant that “we’d have to go big, because Iran is quite formidable.”
What are Trump’s options?
Trump said last week that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, should be “very worried.”
But targeting Iran’s leadership would not be an operation like the one that seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, analysts have warned.
“The Iranian government is not Venezuela,” Alireza Ahmadi said, adding that if the U.S. removed Khamenei, “a replacement would be chosen immediately and the military would effectively be running the country for the foreseeable future.”
Power in Iran is centralized around Khamenei. While there is a president, the Islamic Republic’s political, military and foreign policy decisions are all made by him. Khamenei has held ultimate authority for the last three decades, aided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which helps enforce the regime’s policies and plays a major role in its foreign policy.
If the U.S. were able to remove Khamenei and found a regime official to replace him with, there would still be an “open question” on what happens to the IRGC, Rubin told CNBC.
Iranian worshippers hold portraits of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and a country flag during a protest to condemn Israeli attacks on Iran, after Friday prayers ceremonies in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 13, 2025.
Morteza Nikoubazl | Nurphoto | Getty Images
“The U.S. cannot change the regime through air power alone and without any boots (U.S. or Iranian) on the ground. It can only transform the regime into something else, which could be worse, or turn Iran into another failed state,” Vaez told CNBC.
Ahmadi said regime change in Iran “would require at least an Iraq War level of military commitment, which Trump is unlikely to favor.” Between 2003 and 2011, 4,500 American armed forces personnel were killed in Iraq.
The White House claimed after strikes on three main nuclear sites last year that Iran’s nuclear facilities were “obliterated.” Iran moved to quickly repair the damage to ballistic missile sites but according to analysis from the New York Times, has made “limited fixes” to the major nuclear sites hit by the United States.
Iran has long claimed it does not have any plans to develop nuclear weapons. As talks restart between Washington and Tehran, Iran has offered to cap its enrichment at low levels. The U.S. has opposed the Iranians enriching any uranium since the nuclear deal collapsed in 2018.
While the U.S. has vowed to attack Iran if it resumes its nuclear and missile programs, it is unclear whether these sites would again be primed for attack. “Both options are likely to lead to a disproportionate Iranian retaliation, which could then turn the confrontation into a regional conflagration,” Vaez said.
Potential Iranian retaliation
Iran has vowed to retaliate against U.S. bases in the region if Washington strikes.
“Iran is betting that the U.S. does not have enough missile interceptors and THAAD systems to protect its sprawling military bases and facilities across the region, as well as Israel,” Ahmadi told CNBC.
The U.S. has around 40,000 military personnel in the Middle East. It has bases in the Arabian Gulf including the United States Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, Al Udeid air base in Qatar, which Iran hit last summer and Al Dhafra air base just south of Abu Dhabi.
In this frame-grab made from video, missiles and air-defense interceptors illuminate the night sky over Doha after Iran launched an attack on US forces at Al Udeid Air Base on June 23, 2025 in Doha, Qatar.
Getty Images
“Iran will undoubtedly target U.S. bases in Iraq, Syria, the Gulf, and its naval assets. It is also likely to target Israel. The remnants of its proxies could also join in,” Vaez told CNBC.
Iran seems “to be preparing for a week, if not months, long military confrontation. There seems to be a sense among Iranian leadership that the U.S. is overestimating its leverage and that a significant war may be necessary to correct those assumptions,” Ahmadi added.
Restaurant Brands International on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped expectations, fueled by strong international growth.
Here’s what the company reported for the period ended Dec. 31 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
Earnings per share: 96 cents adjusted vs. 95 cents expected
Revenue: $2.47 billion vs. $2.41 billion expected
Restaurant Brands reported fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $113 million, or 34 cents per share, down from $259 million, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding transaction costs, restructuring expenses and other items, the company reported adjusted earnings of 96 cents per share.
Net salesrose 7.4% to $2.47 billion. Stripping out currency fluctuations and sales from restaurants it plans to refranchise, Restaurant Brands’ organic revenue ticked up 6.5%.
The company’s same-store sales increased 3.1%, fueled by strong international growth.
Outside of the U.S. and Canada, Restaurant Brands’ same-store sales climbed 6.1%. International Burger King restaurants, which represents the bulk of the segment, saw same-store sales growth of 5.8%.
Analysts were projecting international same-store sales growth of just 3.7%, based on StreetAccount estimates.
And Restaurant Brands plans to keep growing its business abroad. In November, the company announced its plan to form a joint venture for Burger King China to accelerate expansion. Under the terms of the deal, which closed in late January, CPE, a Chinese alternative asset manager, owns roughly 83% of Burger King China. Restaurant Brands has retained a minority stake of about 17%, along with a seat on the board of directors.
Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons reported same-store sales growth of 2.9%, although Wall Street was projecting an increase of 3.8%, according to StreetAccount. Tim Hortons accounted for 46% of Restaurant Brands’ overall revenue during the quarter.
Burger King reported overall same-store sales growth of 2.7%, topping StreetAccount estimates of 2.4%.
Popeyes was the laggard of Restaurant Brands’ portfolio. Its same-store sales fell 4.8%, a steeper decline than the 2.4% decrease forecast by Wall Street.
But the company has plans to revive the embattled fried chicken chain. In November, Restaurant Brands tapped Burger King veteran Peter Perdue to lead the chain’s U.S. and Canadian business; last month, the company also named Popeyes veteran Matt Rubin as the chain’s latest chief marketing officer.
Restaurant Brands plans to share more of its ideas to grow the business at its investor day in Miami on Feb. 26.
Sebastian Lai, son of Jimmy Lai speaks during a press conference outside Downing street in London on Sept. 15, 2025.
Henry Nicholls | Afp | Getty Images
China’s embassy in London Tuesday criticized the U.K.’s decision to expand a visa program for Hong Kong residents, calling the move an interference in its internal affairs after a court sentenced pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai to 20 years in prison under a national security law.
The U.K. on Monday expanded the British National Overseas (BNO) visa scheme on Monday to allow children of BNO status holders — who were under 18 at the time of Hong Kong’s handover to mainland China in June 1997 — to apply for the route independently of their parents.
“BNO has misled Hong Kong residents to leave their homes, only to face discrimination and hardship in the U.K., living as second-class citizens,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement in Chinese translated by CNBC.
The embassy described the scheme expansion as “despicable” and “reprehensible.”
“China has always firmly opposed the UK’s manipulation and interference in China’s internal affairs,” the embassy spokesperson said.
The scheme was launched in 2021 after Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong. Since then, over 230,000 people have been granted visas, and almost 170,000 have relocated to the U.K.
The diplomatic tensions followed the sentencing of Lai by a Hong Kong court on Monday, in one of the city’s most prominent prosecutions. That was the heaviest penalty ever meted out under the national security law.
The 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was a vocal critic of Beijing and was among the first prominent figures arrested in August 2020. He was jailed on charges of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing seditious materials. Lai pleaded not guilty to all counts.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer raised the case with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing last month, calling for the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. Critics and Lai’s family have argued that the U.K. did not take sufficient and concrete steps to reverse the course.
The sentencing showed how the Beijing-imposed national security law has “criminalised dissent, prompting many to leave the territory,” the British government said in a statement, adding that it will “rapidly engage [with Beijing] further on Mr Lai’s case.”
The expanded visa route came amid what the British government described as a “deterioration of rights and freedoms” in Hong Kong. The government estimated that 26,000 people will arrive in the U.K. over the next 5 years.
Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee said Tuesday that Lai deserved the harsh sentencing for all the harm that he had done, including “using Apple Daily to poison the minds of citizens” and “colluding with foreign forces to take sanctions and hostile actions against China and Hong Kong.”
Other governments have renewed calls for Lai’s release following the ruling. Marco Rubio, U.S. Secretary of State, called the ruling “unjust and tragic” and urged the authorities to grant humanitarian parole for Lai.
