Delta Air Lines (DAL) closed at $55.76 in the latest trading session, marking a -4.54% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.92%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.18%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.84%.
Shares of the airline have depreciated by 2.06% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Transportation sector's gain of 1.69%, and the S&P 500's gain of 1.48%.
Analysts and investors alike will be keeping a close eye on the performance of Delta Air Lines in its upcoming earnings disclosure. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $1.75, reflecting a 5.41% decrease from the same quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $15.84 billion, reflecting a 1.78% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $6.02 per share and revenue of $63.05 billion. These totals would mark changes of -2.27% and +2.28%, respectively, from last year.
Investors should also pay attention to any latest changes in analyst estimates for Delta Air Lines. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. 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 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, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.07% lower. As of now, Delta Air Lines holds a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, Delta Air Lines is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 9.7. This expresses a discount compared to the average Forward P/E of 10 of its industry.
Meanwhile, DAL's PEG ratio is currently 1.34. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Transportation - Airline industry stood at 0.81 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 176, which puts it in the bottom 29% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.
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Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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