Key Takeaways

• Jefferies upgraded AAL price target from $12 to $13 while maintaining Hold rating
• First quarter unit revenue jumped 7.6%, with second quarter projected between 9.5%–10.5%
• Carrier launching $1.14 billion aircraft-backed bond offering
• Rising fuel expenses threaten profitability, potential 2026 loss flagged
• BMO Capital increased target to $13.50; Evercore maintains $14.00 target

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American Airlines delivered first quarter results that surpassed Wall Street expectations, reporting a loss of $0.40 per share versus consensus estimates calling for a $0.47 loss. Total revenue reached $13.91 billion, beating the $13.79 billion projected by analysts.

American Airlines Group Inc., AAL

The carrier’s unit revenue expanded 7.6% during the quarter. Management provided guidance for second quarter unit revenue growth in the range of 9.5% to 10.5%.

Following the quarterly report, Jefferies analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu increased her price objective on AAL shares from $12 to $13. Her Hold recommendation remained unchanged.

AAL is presently changing hands near $12.10, trading beneath InvestingPro’s Fair Value calculation of $14.05. This variance indicates potential undervaluation at present price levels.

Jefferies established an annual EPS projection of $0.10, falling within the company’s broad guidance band spanning -$0.40 to +$1.10. The investment firm highlighted opportunities for improved margin execution under favorable market conditions.

BMO Capital similarly lifted its price objective, advancing from $12.00 to $13.50. BMO cited an improved yield environment and noted the first quarter performance exceeded projections.

Raymond James maintained its Market Perform stance, recognizing advancement in narrowing the margin differential with established competitors. Evercore ISI preserved its In Line assessment with a $14.00 valuation target.

Aircraft-Backed Bond Offering Totals $1.14 Billion

Earlier this week, American Airlines initiated a $1.14 billion bond issuance to fund 32 aircraft, including both new deliveries and current fleet assets. The financing package takes the form of enhanced equipment trust certificates, commonly known as EETCs.

The principal tranche comprises a $905 million offering carrying an average maturity of 7.7 years. Initial pricing discussions center around a 5.625% yield.

EETC structures enable sub-investment-grade airlines to tap investment-grade debt channels by pledging aircraft as security. While S&P assigns AAL a B+ corporate rating, sitting four levels beneath investment grade, the senior bonds in this transaction are anticipated to receive an A rating from S&P.

Goldman Sachs, MUFG, and Morgan Stanley serve as lead underwriters for the bond transaction.

Escalating Fuel Expenses Pressure Margins

Increasing oil prices continue pressuring airline profitability industry-wide. Fuel represents one of American’s most substantial operating expenses.

The previous week, management reduced its full-year profit forecast. Leadership cautioned that fiscal year 2026 could conclude with a net loss following the absorption of approximately $4 billion in incremental fuel expenditures.

American simultaneously deferred $300 million in aircraft delivery capital spending from 2026, creating additional financial flexibility.

The airline intends to expand capacity roughly 4% during the current year, approximately double the industry-wide expansion rate. Jefferies indicated that prevailing macroeconomic conditions likely necessitate additional downward adjustment to capacity growth plans.

Based on InvestingPro intelligence, ten analysts have lowered earnings forecasts for the forthcoming reporting period.

AAL shares declined approximately 2.4% on Monday as investors digested the bond offering announcement and earnings developments.

Cryptocurrency investment products continued their run of inflows last week as Bitcoin traded at its highest levels since early February.

Crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) recorded $1.2 billion in inflows last week, marking their fourth consecutive week of gains, CoinShares reported Monday.

The inflow streak is the largest so far this year, as the four-week total has reached about $3.9 billion, surpassing the previous four-week run of $2.9 billion in March.

Total assets under management rose to $155 billion, the highest level since Feb. 1, supported by Bitcoin trading above $76,000 for the first time since its February correction, CoinShares head of research James Butterfill said.

He said that crypto ETP growth likely reflects improving institutional demand against a backdrop of a Bitcoin surge. “The market now turns to the FOMC decision on April 28–29, which is likely contributing to caution at the margin,” Butterfill added.

Bitcoin leads inflows as most assets see gains

Bitcoin led last week’s ETP inflows, drawing $932.5 million and lifting year-to-date flows to $4 billion. A large share of these inflows came from US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, which recorded about $824 million in inflows last week, according to SoSoValue.

Ether ETPs ranked second with $192 million of inflows, marking the third consecutive week of gains above $190 million, with year-to-date inflows now at $390 million.

Crypto ETP flows by asset (in millions of US dollars). Source: CoinShares

XRP funds returned to inflows after recording $56 million in outflows the previous week.

Despite the positive trend, short-Bitcoin products also recorded modest inflows of $16.5 million. That was broadly in line with the prior month’s average, suggesting persistent but not elevated hedging demand, Butterfill said.

Blockchain equity ETFs hit record weekly inflows.

The analyst also noted that blockchain equity ETFs recorded a record week of inflows.

The ETFs have seen $617 million in inflows over the past three weeks, Butterfill said, highlighting rising demand for exposure to the broader technology and digital asset sector.

Related: Morgan Stanley launches stablecoin offering through money market fund

Regionally, the US dominated with $1.1 billion of inflows. Germany saw around $62 million, more than double the prior week, while Switzerland reversed last week’s $138 million of outflows with $35 million of inflows.

Magazine: XRP hints at 30% spike, Bitcoin ETFs post 9-day inflow streak: Hodler’s Digest, April 19 – 25

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The Solana Foundation says it has a plan for dealing with future quantum computing risks, outlining in a new blog post how its developers are already aligned on a potential solution.

The foundation said on Monday two of the network’s core developer teams, Anza and Jump Crypto’s Firedancer, have independently landed on the same solution, a new type of digital signature called Falcon designed to withstand quantum computing, and have already started building early versions of it.

The alignment is notable given Solana’s technical constraints. The network’s high-speed, low-latency design has raised questions about whether more computationally intensive post-quantum cryptography could be adopted without trade-offs. The foundation said, however, that any eventual migration would be manageable and unlikely to significantly impact performance.

The blog post comes as debate intensifies across the crypto industry about whether advances in quantum computing could eventually undermine blockchain security. The Solana Foundation’s position: the risk is real but still distant.

“Quantum is still years away,” the foundation said, adding that migration plans are “well-researched, understood, and ready to deploy.”

Beyond core protocol work, the foundation pointed to existing efforts within the ecosystem, including Blueshift’s “Winternitz Vault,” a quantum-resistant primitive that has been live on Solana for more than two years and was recently cited by Google Quantum AI.

For now, no immediate changes are planned. Solana outlined a phased roadmap that includes continued research into Falcon and alternatives, introducing post-quantum schemes for new wallets if needed, and eventually migrating existing wallets.

Read more: Solana’s quantum-threat readiness reveals harsh tradeoff: security vs speed

MicroStrategy purchased an additional 3,273 Bitcoin for approximately $255 million, according to a Polymarket announcement on April 27, 2026. The acquisition marks the latest expansion of MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings, which have become a cornerstone of the company’s treasury strategy.

Polymarket, a cryptocurrency prediction market, has priced the odds of MicroStrategy selling any Bitcoin in 2026 at 10%, indicating strong market confidence in the company’s continued hodling stance. MicroStrategy has been one of the largest corporate Bitcoin accumulators since 2020, using the digital asset as a primary vehicle for treasury management.

Sources: Polymarket | Polymarket

This article was generated automatically by The Defiant’s AI news system from publicly available sources.

South Korean internet-only bank Kbank has signed a strategic partnership with blockchain payments company Ripple to test blockchain-based overseas remittances. 

According to local media outlets like News1, The Korea Herald and Maeil Business, Kbank CEO Choi Woo-hyung and Fiona Murray, Ripple’s Asia-Pacific managing director signed the agreement at Kbank’s Seoul headquarters. The bank said the partnership will use Ripple’s global network and blockchain infrastructure to test whether overseas remittances can be made faster, cheaper and more transparent.

The companies are already conducting a phased technical verification. The first phase reportedly tested a separate app-based remittance structure, while the second phase is digitally linking customer accounts and internal systems to test remittance stability. It includes onchain transfers to countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Thailand, according to local reports. 

The tie-up comes as South Korean financial companies test blockchain-based cross-border payment infrastructure while the country’s stablecoin and digital asset rules remain under discussion.

South Korea companies prepare for stablecoin rules

South Korea is weighing how to regulate stablecoins under broader digital asset legislation. On April 8, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party prepared a draft bill that would classify stablecoins as foreign exchange payment instruments and require tokenized real-world assets to be backed by assets held in trust. 

Citing an integrated draft of the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, the Seoul Economic Daily previously reported that stablecoins used in cross-border transactions would be treated as a “means of payment” under the country’s Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. 

Related: South Korea tightens crypto withdrawal-delay exemptions after scam losses

The policy backdrop may explain why stablecoin and blockchain-payment tie-ups are accelerating before the rules are final. Banks, card companies and payment firms appear to be testing infrastructure, partners and use cases while avoiding full commercial launches ahead of legislation. 

On March 16, Hana Financial Group, one of South Korea’s largest financial conglomerates, signed a business agreement with the United Kingdom’s Standard Chartered Group for cooperation on various sectors, including foreign exchange and digital assets. 

The South Korean conglomerate also previously partnered with USDC-issuer Circle and major US crypto exchange Crypto.com to promote stablecoin-based payments for foreign visitors in the country, according to The Korea Times. 

On March 5, Asia Business Daily reported that South Korean payments company Danal will officially launch a digital asset payments service for foreign visitors in Korea in partnership with Binance Pay. 

Magazine: Adam Back says current demand is ‘almost’ enough to send Bitcoin to $1M

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.