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Delta Air Lines (DAL) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) closed at $50.96, marking a +0.43% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.01%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.1%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.12%.

Heading into today, shares of the airline had lost 0.67% over the past month, lagging the Transportation sector's loss of 0.63% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.24% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from DAL as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.82, up 10.81% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $10.37 billion, up 3.99% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $6.50 per share and revenue of $46.30 billion, which would represent changes of +15.04% and +4.19%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for DAL. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 0.57% lower. DAL is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, DAL is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 7.81. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 9.56, so we one might conclude that DAL is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that DAL has a PEG ratio of 0.7. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Transportation - Airline stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 0.52 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 17, which puts it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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