Delta Air Lines (DAL) ended the recent trading session at $48.50, demonstrating a -0.21% swing from the preceding day's closing price. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily gain of 0.4%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.28%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.39%.
Coming into today, shares of the airline had gained 16.74% in the past month. In that same time, the Transportation sector gained 8.23%, while the S&P 500 gained 6.69%.
The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Delta Air Lines in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.90, signifying a 19.49% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $16.13 billion, indicating a 3.2% decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $5.06 per share and a revenue of $60.9 billion, indicating changes of -17.86% and -1.2%, respectively, from the former year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Delta Air Lines. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.
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.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.25% lower within the past month. Delta Air Lines is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.
Looking at its valuation, Delta Air Lines is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 9.6. This denotes a premium relative to the industry's average Forward P/E of 9.31.
Investors should also note that DAL has a PEG ratio of 2.47 right now. The PEG ratio bears resemblance to the frequently used P/E ratio, but this parameter also includes the company's expected earnings growth trajectory. The average PEG ratio for the Transportation - Airline industry stood at 0.88 at the close of the market yesterday.
The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 149, this industry ranks in the bottom 40% of all industries, numbering over 250.
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.
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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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