Delta Air Lines (DAL)
Industrials · $55.8B market cap · SEC CIK 0000027904
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Apr 6, 2027, with analysts expecting $0.80 in earnings per share.
The case for DAL
- Revenue growing 10.3% year over year.
- Reasonably priced at 14.1× earnings.
- Has compounded revenue at 30.0% a year over five years.
- Return on equity of 19%.
- Pays a modest 1.1% dividend.
- Price/sales of 0.8× is lower than 95% of Industrials companies.
The case against
- Growth is slowing: revenue up 10.3% this year against 30.0% a year over five.
- Earnings per share fell 12.7%.
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.42).
- Profitability is weak (36/100): return on equity 19%, net margin 5.8%, gross margin 48%, 77% of profit turned to cash.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Industrials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 84 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 75 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 36 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 66 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 43 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 79 Industrials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 14.1× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 2.82× |
| Price / sales | 0.8× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +10.3% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -12.7% |
| Gross margin | 48% |
| Operating margin | 8% |
| Net margin | 6% |
| Return on equity | 19% |
| Debt / equity | 0.64× |
| Current ratio | 0.42 |
| Dividend yield | 1.11% |
| Beta | 1.45 |
| 52-week range | $55.03 – $95.68 |
| Position in that range | 71% of the way up |
| 3-month return | -2.0% |
| 1-year return | +38.1% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Delta Air Lines's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $63.4B | $61.6B | $58.0B | $50.6B | $29.9B |
| Operating income | $5.8B | $6.0B | $5.5B | $3.7B | $1.9B |
| Net income | $5.0B | $3.5B | $4.6B | $1.3B | $280M |
| Operating cash flow | $8.3B | $8.0B | $6.5B | $6.4B | $3.3B |
| Capital expenditure | $4.5B | $5.1B | $5.3B | $6.4B | $3.2B |
| Total assets | $81.3B | $75.4B | $73.6B | $72.3B | $72.5B |
| Shareholder equity | $20.9B | $15.3B | $11.1B | $6.6B | $3.9B |
| Cash | $4.3B | $3.1B | $2.7B | $3.3B | $7.9B |
| Long-term debt | $11.9B | $13.5B | $16.0B | $19.3B | $23.6B |
| Free cash flow | $3.8B | $2.9B | $1.1B | -$3.0M | $17.0M |
| Operating margin | 9.2% | 9.7% | 9.5% | 7.2% | 6.3% |
| Net margin | 7.9% | 5.6% | 7.9% | 2.6% | 0.9% |
| Diluted shares | 654M | 648M | 643M | 641M | 641M |
Share count is essentially flat over 4 years.
What Delta Air Lines says it does
Part I ITEM 1. BUSINESS General As a global airline based in the United States, we connect customers across our expansive global network with a commitment to ensuring that the future of travel is connected, personalized and enjoyable. In 2025, we served over 200 million customers safely, reliably and with industry-leading customer service innovation. Competitive Advantages and Brand Strength As we celebrated our centennial year in 2025, we continued to differentiate Delta from the industry and to invest in extending our competitive advantages. These enduring competitive advantages, which support our trusted consumer brand, include our people and culture, operational reliability, global network, customer loyalty and financial foundation. People and Culture The Delta people and culture are our strongest competitive advantage. Our more than 100,000 employees provide world-class travel experiences for our customers and best-in-class…
Risk factors DAL lists in its 10-K
- Competitive Advantages and Brand Strength
- Innovative Investments in Technology
- Commercial Arrangements with Other Airlines
- Joint Venture/Cooperation Agreements
- Fuel consumption and expense by year
- Percentage of Total Operating Expense
- Domestic airline employees represented by collective bargaining agreements by group
- Approximate Number of Employees Represented
- Date on which Collective Bargaining Agreement Becomes Amendable
- Environmental Compliance Obligations
- Information About Our Executive Officers as of December 31, 2025
- We are at risk of losses and adverse publicity stemming from a serious accident involving our aircraft or aircraft of our airline partners
- Disruptions of our information technology infrastructure could interfere with our operations, possibly having a material adverse effect on our business
- Failure of the technology we use to perform effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business