Lede

Delta Air Lines reported a first-quarter profit, beating revenue forecasts and providing a positive outlook for the June quarter and full-year projections.

Summary

• Delta Air Lines swung to a first-quarter profit as revenue grew above expectations.
• The company reported a net loss that narrowed to $363 million, or 57 cents a share.
• Excluding nonrecurring items, the company swung to adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents.
• Revenue grew 36.5% to $12.76 billion, above the FactSet consensus $11.98 billion.
• Passenger revenue jumped 50.7% to $10.41 billion, while cargo and other revenue combined fell 3.8% to $2.35 billion.
• Capacity increased 18.4% to 61.35 million available seat miles (ASM), while traffic rose 28.4% to 49.69 million revenue passenger miles (RPM).
• For the June quarter, the company expects record revenue and EPS of $2.00 to $2.25, well above the FactSet EPS consensus of $1.66.
• The FactSet revenue consensus for 2023 of $53.67 billion implies 17.7% growth, and the EPS consensus is $5.36.
• The stock ascended 3.7% in premarket trading, enough to lead all of the S&P 500 index’s gainers ahead of the open.
• The stock has gained 2.7% year to date through Wednesday.