2023-04-13 06:53:03 ET
Delta Air Lines ( NYSE: DAL ) stock gained altitude in premarket trading on Thursday as optimistic guidance overshadowed a mixed Q1 report.
For the first quarter , the Atlanta-based air carrier notched $0.25 in earnings per share, coming up $0.05 short of the Street consensus. Meanwhile, a 36.9% jump in revenue to $12.8B cruised past expectations by $550M.
Q1 passenger revenue came in at $10.41B, slightly below the $10.56B consensus, but cargo and other revenue held up better than anticipated. American Express ( AXP ) remuneration hit a record $1.7B in the March quarter, up about 38% year over year. On an adjusted basis, $11.84B in revenue missed expectations.
“Delta is building momentum, with the best people in the industry generating nearly $5B of operating profit over the last twelve months,” CEO Ed Bastian said. “For the June quarter, we expect to deliver record revenue, and an adjusted operating margin of 14 to 16 percent with earnings per share of $2.00 to $2.25. 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 $2B.”
The consensus EPS forecast for the second quarter stood at $1.64 while full-year forecasts were pegged at $5.37. The 15% to 20% revenue growth guide is also well above the 10.56% consensus.
Shares of Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) rose 4.45% shortly after the print .
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Delta Air Lines stock flies higher on upbeat forecast