In the latest trading session, Delta Air Lines (DAL) closed at $81.14, marking a -2.34% move from the previous day. The stock's change was less than the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.72%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1.57%.
The airline's stock has dropped by 3.68% in the past month, falling short of the Transportation sector's loss of 2.67% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.68%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Delta Air Lines in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.03, reflecting a 18.71% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $17.67 billion, up 6% from the year-ago period.
For the annual period, the Zacks Consensus Estimates anticipate earnings of $6.23 per share and a revenue of $66.58 billion, signifying shifts of +7.04% and +5.08%, respectively, from the last year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Delta Air Lines. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 4.7% lower. Right now, Delta Air Lines possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Delta Air Lines is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 13.33. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 11.59, so one might conclude that Delta Air Lines is trading at a premium comparatively.
We can also see that DAL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.15. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. By the end of yesterday's trading, the Transportation - Airline industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.93.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 180, placing it within the bottom 27% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).