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Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. surged Thursday, after the air carrier swung to a first-quarter profit as revenue rose above expectations, and said it was “confident” in its full-year projections given a “strong” outlook for the current quarter.
The company reported a net loss that narrowed to $363 million, or 57 cents a share, from $940 million, or $1.48 a share, in the same period a year ago.
But excluding nonrecurring items, such as one-time expenses related to the new pilot agreement, the company swung to adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents from a per-share loss of $1.23. The adjusted EPS missed the FactSet consensus 29 cents.
Revenue grew 36.5% to $12.76 billion, above the FactSet consensus $11.98 billion, as passenger revenue jumped 50.7% to $10.41 billion while cargo and other revenue combined fell 3.8% to $2.35 billion.
The stock
DAL,
ascended 3.7% in premarket trading, enough to lead all of the S&P 500 index’s
SPX,
gainers ahead of the open.
Capacity increased 18.4% to 61.35 million available seat miles (ASM), while traffic rose 28.4% to 49.69 million revenue passenger miles (RPM). Load factor improved to 81% from 75%, but was below the FactSet consensus of 83.2%.
For the June quarter, the company said it expects record revenue and EPS of $2.00 to $2.25, well above the FactSet EPS consensus of $1.66.
“With solid March quarter profitability and a strong outlook for the June quarter, we are confident in our full-year guidance for revenue growth of 15 to 20 percent year over year, earnings of $5 to $6 per share and free cash flow of over $2 billion,” said Chief Executive Ed Bastian.
The FactSet revenue consensus for 2023 of $53.67 billion implies 17.7% growth, and the EPS consensus is $5.36.
The stock has gained 2.7% year to date through Wednesday, while the U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund
JETS,
has advanced 5.5% and the S&P 500
SPX,
has tacked on 6.6%.
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