Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): What You Need To Know

Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) reported earnings on April 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

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

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) notched revenue of $8.50 billion. The nine analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected to see revenue of $8.51 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were the same as the prior-year quarter’s.

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 $0.10. The 14 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.07 per share. Non-GAAP EPS were $0.10 for Q1 compared to -$0.05 per share for the prior-year quarter. GAAP EPS of $0.01 for Q1 were 93% lower than the prior-year quarter’s $0.15 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 17.2%, 120 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 3.8%, 110 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 0.1%, 140 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. (Margins calculated in GAAP terms.)

Looking ahead
Next quarter’s average estimate for revenue is $9.88 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.94.

Next year’s average estimate for revenue is $37.62 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.61.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a one-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 549 members out of 938 rating the stock outperform, and 389 members rating it underperform. Among 203 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 130 give Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) a green thumbs-up, and 73 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) is outperform, with an average price target of $17.53.

The article Delta Air Lines Beats on EPS But GAAP Results Lag originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Seth Jayson.

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 of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

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