The Daily Chase: WestJet strike deadline down to the wire

Here are five things you need to know this morning.

WestJet cancels 25 flights ahead of possible Friday strike: Things are coming down to the wire between WestJet and its mechanics union, as the airline has pre-emptively cancelled 25 flights today and tomorrow, impacting 3,300 travelers ahead of the Canada Day long weekend. Members of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association overwhelmingly rejected a potential labour deal earlier this month, setting the stage for a walkout that is scheduled to happen as of 5:30 p.m. mountain time tomorrow. WestJet says more than 250,000 people are scheduled to fly on its network over the next week, and those trips are now in doubt. The union says WestJet’s statement about a strike putting travelers “in peril” is “inflammatory” and is urging the airline to get back to the bargaining table while it still can.

Micron misses high expectations, dragging down AI names with it: The AI boom underway on U.S. markets could face a test today after earnings from Micron yesterday didn’t live up to lofty expectations. The company, which is the largest domestic maker of computer memory chips in the U.S., is down about five per cent premarket today after the company said it expects fourth quarter sales to come in between US$7.4 and $7.8 billion. That’s below the high end of the range analysts were hoping for. The small sell off comes after the company has seen its stock price gain more than 80 per cent this year. ‘The market is holding totally unrealistic expectations as many names who are beating street estimates by a wide margin are still being sold down,” Andrew Jackson, head of equity strategy at Ortus Advisors, told Bloomberg.

BlackBerry shares move up on better than expected results: Shares in BlackBerry are poised for gains on Thursday after the technology company posted quarterly results Wednesday showing the company is moving toward profitability. The company posted a net loss of US$42 million during its first quarter. That’s down from the $56 million posted in the previous quarter. On an adjusted basis, the loss works out to three cents per share, which is better than the five cents that analysts were expecting. The shares are up about five per cent in premarket trading.