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Valued at a market cap of $33.3 billion, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) is a leading global airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. As one of the world's largest carriers, Delta operates an extensive domestic and international network, serving over 300 destinations across six continents. The airline giant is expected to announce its fiscal Q4 earnings on Friday, Jan. 10.
Ahead of the event, analysts are expecting DAL to report a profit of $1.77 per share, up 38.3% from $1.28 per share in the year-ago quarter. The company has surpassed Wall Street's bottom-line estimates in two of the last four quarterly reports while missing on two other occasions.
For fiscal 2024, analysts expect Delta Air Lines to report EPS of $6.08, down 2.7% from $6.25 in fiscal 2023. However, its EPS is expected to rise 18.3% annually to $7.19 in fiscal year 2025.
DAL has outpaced the broader markets in 2024, with shares up 50.9% over the past year, compared to the S&P 500 Index ($SPX) 23.8% gain and the S&P 500 Industrial Sector SPDR’s (XLI) 15.7% return over the same time frame.
Delta Air Lines released its Q3 earnings on Oct. 10, and its shares rose by 2.1% in the following trading session. The airline reported $14.6 billion in operating revenue and $1.4 billion in operating income, with a solid operating margin of 9.4%. Earnings per share reached $1.50, driven by strong operating cash flow of $1.3 billion and free cash flow of $95 million, bringing year-to-date free cash flow to $2.7 billion.
Analysts' consensus rating on Delta Air Lines stock is very bullish, with a "Strong Buy" rating overall. The stock has a unanimous “Strong Buy” rating from all 20 analysts covering it.
The average analyst price target for DAL is $75.74, indicating a potential upside of 24.8% from the current price levels.
