Delta Air Lines projects a strong financial performance in the fourth quarter, driven by robust travel demand and a surge in holiday bookings. The airline estimates adjusted earnings per share (EPS) between $1.60 and $1.85, exceeding last year’s adjusted $1.28 EPS and close to Wall Street’s $1.71 expectation, according to LSEG. Revenue is forecasted to increase by 2% to 4% from the previous year, slightly under the 4.1% that analysts anticipated.
Despite the positive outlook, Delta anticipates a minor revenue impact from the U.S. presidential election on November 5. CEO Ed Bastian noted potential consumer hesitancy during the election period, a trend observed in previous national elections. On the brighter side, holiday bookings remain notably strong.
In the third quarter, Delta’s adjusted EPS was $1.50, falling just short of the $1.52 analysts had projected. The airline faced a significant challenge due to a July outage from CrowdStrike, reducing adjusted earnings by 45 cents per share and resulting in a $380 million revenue loss. The outage affected Delta’s operations and led to the cancellation of numerous flights. Delta is seeking compensation from CrowdStrike and Microsoft for the disruptions.
Nonetheless, Delta recorded a 15% increase in net income, reaching $1.27 billion for the quarter ending September 30, with total revenue rising 1% to $15.68 billion. The airline noted that while passenger revenue remained stable, premium cabin sales continued to outperform. Delta plans to expand its capacity by 3% to 4% in the fourth quarter, benefiting from a rationalizing industry supply.
Delta maintains its full-year adjusted earnings forecast at $6 to $7 per share, without considering the CrowdStrike incident’s impact.
Original Story https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/10/delta-air-lines-dal-3q-2024-earnings.html
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