
Global airline Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will be reporting results this Tuesday morning. Here’s what you need to know.
Delta beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 3.8% last quarter, reporting revenues of $16.67 billion, up 6.4% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with EPS guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. It reported 67.62 billion revenue passenger miles, up 2% year on year.
Is Delta a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Delta’s revenue to grow 1.4% year on year to $15.78 billion, slowing from the 9.4% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.55 per share.

Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Delta has a history of exceeding Wall Street’s expectations, beating revenue estimates every single time over the past two years by 6.4% on average.
Looking at Delta’s peers in the consumer discretionary segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Carnival delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 6.6%, missing analysts’ expectations by 0.6%, and Nike reported flat revenue, topping estimates by 1.7%. Carnival traded up 13.7% following the results while Nike was down 10.9%.
Read our full analysis of Carnival’s results here and Nike’s results here.
There has been positive sentiment among investors in the consumer discretionary segment, with share prices up 3% on average over the last month. Delta is up 1.7% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $79.32 (compared to the current share price of $72.48).
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