Delta Air Lines (DAL) closed at $78.96 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.51% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.58% for the day. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.18%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.32%.
Heading into today, shares of the airline had lost 10.13% over the past month, lagging the Transportation sector's loss of 3.23% and the S&P 500's loss of 0.36%.
Investors will be eagerly watching for the performance of Delta Air Lines in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.03, reflecting a 18.71% increase from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $17.67 billion, reflecting a 6% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
Regarding the entire year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates forecast earnings of $6.23 per share and revenue of $66.58 billion, indicating changes of +7.04% and +5.08%, respectively, compared to the previous year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Delta Air Lines. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 4.7% downward. Currently, Delta Air Lines is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Delta Air Lines is presently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.87. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 11.24.
It is also worth noting that DAL currently has a PEG ratio of 1.11. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. DAL's industry had an average PEG ratio of 0.75 as of yesterday's close.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 209, putting it in the bottom 16% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming 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).