- Companies are describing economic conditions now as "volatile" and "impossible to predict."
- They're overhauling earnings forecasts amid uncertainty caused by Trump's tariffs.
- Here's a list of companies that have recently lowered or pulled their guidance as a result.
Volatile. Challenging. Uncertain.
This is the language of corporate earnings call after President Trump's tariffs.
As a result of the uncertainty, companies are lowering or outright scrapping their earnings forecasts.
Here's a look at the big brands that have made adjustments to their guidance in recent earnings reports:
P&G
Procter & Gamble now forecasts flat sales growth in fiscal year 2025, compared to a previous projection of a 2% to 4% increase. The consumer goods conglomerate, which owns brands like Tide and Charmin, also cut its core EPS outlook to $6.72 to $6.82, down from $6.91 to $7.05.
"We will have to pull every lever we have in our arsenal to mitigate the impact of tariffs within our cost structure and P&L," P&G's CFO, Andre Schulten, said on a call with reporters.
In the company's earnings release, CEO Jon Moeller pointed to a "challenging and volatile consumer and geopolitical environment."
"We're making appropriate adjustments to our near-term outlook to reflect underlying market conditions while remaining confident in the longer-term growth prospects for our brands and the markets where we compete," he said.
PepsiCo
The food and beverage giant warned of higher production costs and lower consumer spending amid "increasingly dynamic and complex geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions."
"As we look ahead, we expect more volatility and uncertainty, particularly related to global trade developments, which we expect will increase our supply chain costs," CEO Ramon Laguarta said in the company's earnings release. "At the same time, consumer conditions in many markets remain subdued and similarly have an uncertain outlook."
PepsiCo lowered its core EPS forecast for the year to a 3% decline, where it previously forecast a single-digit increase.
"Relative to where we were three months ago, we probably are not feeling as good about the consumer," PepsiCo's CFO, Jamie Caulfield, said in a post-earnings call.
Chipotle
Chipotle lowered its guidance for the fiscal year and now forecasts a sales increase in the low single digits, compared to low- to mid-single digits previously forecasted.
"In February, we began to see that the elevated level of uncertainty felt by consumers are starting to impact their spending habits," interim CEO Scott Boatwright said on the company's earnings call. "We could see this in our visitation study where saving money because of concerns around the economy was the overwhelming reason consumers were reducing the frequency of restaurant visits."
United Airlines
United Airlines took the rare step of offering two sets of outlooks: one for a stable macroeconomic environment and one for a recessionary environment.
"The Company's guidance is based on consensus market macroeconomic expectations," it said in a securities filing. "However, a single consensus no longer exists, and therefore the Company's expectation has become bimodal — either the U.S. economy will remain weaker but stable, or the U.S. may enter into a recession. The Company is therefore providing two separate guidance benchmarks based on these two different macroeconomic views."
The filing added that the macro environment "is impossible to predict this year with any degree of confidence."
Delta Air Lines
Delta was one of the first airlines to pull its guidance when announcing Q1 earnings.
"Given current uncertainty, Delta is not reaffirming full year 2025 financial guidance and will provide an update later in the year as visibility improves," the carrier said in an earnings release.
CEO Ed Bastian said in the company's earnings call that it would be "premature" to project the year "given the broad macro uncertainty."
American Airlines
American Airlines also withdrew its full-year guidance, noting that it plans to provide an update "as the economic outlook becomes clearer."
"Aircraft cost too much already," CEO Robert Isom said on the earnings call when asked about tariffs. "I don't want to pay any more for aircraft. It doesn't make sense."
He added, "And certainly, we're pulling guidance. Certainly, it's not something we would intend to absorb. And I'll tell you, it's not something that I would expect our customers to welcome. So we've got to work on this."
In an interview on CNBC's "Squawk Box," Isom said "uncertainty" was the reason American pulled their guidance.
Southwest Airlines
The airline has withdrawn its guidance on full-year 2025 and 2026 earnings before interest and taxes.
"Amid the current macroeconomic uncertainty, it is difficult to forecast given recent and short-lived booking trends," it said in an earnings release.
Thermo Fisher
CEO Mark Casper said on a recent earnings call that the updated guidance "incorporates the expected net impact of current tariffs and the changes driven by the current policy focus of the US."
Thermo Fisher said it expects a $400 million revenue headwind as tariffs hit the sales of products made in the US and sold in China. It also expects tariffs to raise the cost of parts it sources in China.