Delta Air Lines Meets on Revenues, Misses on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Delta Air Lines (NYS: DAL) reported earnings on Oct. 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Sep. 30 (Q3), Delta Air Lines met expectations on revenues and missed estimates on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded slightly and GAAP earnings per share grew significantly.


Margins expanded across the board.

Revenue details
 Delta Air Lines reported revenue of $9.92 billion. The 10 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ predicted a top line of $9.99 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 1.1% higher than the prior-year quarter's $9.82 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.90. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.93 per share. GAAP EPS of $1.23 for Q3 were 89% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.65 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 47.7%, 2,580 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 14.7%, 590 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 10.6%, 500 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $8.52 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.36.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $36.64 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.95.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 543 members out of 932 rating the stock outperform, and 389 members rating it underperform. Among 207 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 111 give Delta Air Lines a green thumbs-up, and 96 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Delta Air Lines is outperform, with an average price target of $14.38.

The article Delta Air Lines Meets on Revenues, Misses on EPS originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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