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Delta Air Lines (DAL) Exceeds Market Returns: Some Facts to Consider

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Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) closed at $67.99 in the latest trading session, marking a +2.01% move from the prior day. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.54% for the day. On the other hand, the Dow registered a gain of 0.66%, and the technology-centric Nasdaq increased by 0.77%.

Heading into today, shares of the airline had lost 3.73% over the past month, outpacing the Transportation sector's loss of 9.19% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.71%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Delta Air Lines in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is scheduled to release its earnings on April 8, 2026. It is anticipated that the company will report an EPS of $0.69, marking a 50% rise compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $14.93 billion, showing a 6.34% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $6.85 per share and a revenue of $66.16 billion, indicating changes of +17.7% and +4.41%, respectively, from the former year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Delta Air Lines. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Consequently, upward revisions in estimates express analysts' positivity towards the business operations and its ability to generate profits.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To capitalize on this, we've crafted the Zacks Rank, a unique model that incorporates these estimate changes and offers a practical rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which varies between #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), carries an impressive track record of exceeding expectations, confirmed by external audits, with stocks at #1 delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 5.17% lower within the past month. Delta Air Lines currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In the context of valuation, Delta Air Lines is at present trading with a Forward P/E ratio of 9.73. This expresses a premium compared to the average Forward P/E of 8.57 of its industry.

We can also see that DAL currently has a PEG ratio of 0.68. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. As the market closed yesterday, the Transportation - Airline industry was having an average PEG ratio of 0.44.

The Transportation - Airline industry is part of the Transportation sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 65, placing it within the top 27% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the strength of our separate industry groups by calculating the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks contained within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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