Delta shares jump on rosy outlook amid industry's tumultuous first quarter
Delta Air Lines shares closed higher in Wall Street trading on Tuesday after the carrier said it expects first quarter earnings to come in above prior estimates, potentially alleviating some investor concerns over the impact of a tumultuous three months in the airline industry.
The Atlanta-based company now expects revenue in the three months through March to grow as much as 7 percent, higher than the prior topline estimate of 6 percent.
Delta also estimates profits to be as high as 95 cents per share, also better than the previous forecast of 90 cents per share.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 63.34 | -0.30 | -0.47% |
On top of several outages that led to nationwide delays, a record 35-day government shutdown resulted in a higher-than-normal amount of unscheduled absences by Transportation Security Administration agents in the first quarter, leading to longer wait times at some of the nation's largest airports.
And the recent Lion Air and Ethiopian Airline crashes involving the Boeing 737 Max jet led the U.S. and other countries to ground the fleet, resulting in flight cancellations on Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and others.
Delta may also do better than its competitors given that it does not fly any Boeing Max jets, opting instead for the Airbus A321neo.
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The carrier reports its full 2019 first quarter earnings on April 10.