Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL)
| Previous close | 40.67 |
| Open | 40.00 |
| Bid | 39.94 x 800 |
| Ask | 39.95 x 900 |
| Day's range | 39.83 - 40.27 |
| 52-week range | 17.51 - 60.21 |
| Volume | 6,625,540 |
| Avg. volume | 15,270,466 |
| Market cap | 25.449B |
| Beta (5Y monthly) | 1.45 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | N/A |
| EPS (TTM) | -19.49 |
| Earnings date | 20 Apr 2021 - 26 Apr 2021 |
| Forward dividend & yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-dividend date | 19 Feb 2020 |
| 1y target est | 46.32 |
- Motley Fool
United Airlines Posts Ugly Q4 Results, but Promises Full Recovery by 2023
Management hopes to entice investors with a bullish long-term outlook, but United Airlines may be overconfident about the future trajectory of demand.
- Bloomberg
United Sinks as Airline Says It Can’t Predict Rebound Timing
(Bloomberg) -- United Airlines Holdings Inc. sank after saying it couldn’t predict when a demand rebound would improve results, a cautious outlook that contrasted with Delta Air Lines Inc.’s forecast last week that it would break even on a cash-flow basis in the second quarter.This year will serve as a “transition” after the collapse in travel caused by the coronavirus pandemic, United said as it reported fourth-quarter earnings. While pent-up demand will spur more leisure bookings later this year, United declined to bet on a specific timetable.“I know we’ve created a fair bit of angst amongst investors by not being willing to say that we think the inflection point on demand is right around the corner, 60 days away,” Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said Thursday on a conference call with analysts. “And we hope it is, but as we said from the beginning, hope is not a strategy.”Kirby’s caution underscored the risk for airlines in the coming months as the pandemic continues to gut travel demand. Delta stirred hopes of an imminent rebound by offering specific goal posts last week, reiterating its cash-flow outlook and telling investors that it had a “good shot” at turning a third-quarter profit as vaccines become more widely available.United slid 5.2% to $42.83 at 2:33 p.m. in New York. That was the biggest drop by far among major U.S. airlines, which fell less sharply as President Joe Biden’s administration said it planned to require air travelers to wear masks and would enforce quarantines for passengers arriving from other countries.2023 GoalsInstead of shorter-term markers, United touted its goal of topping pre-pandemic profit margins in 2023. The company will eventually look back on 2020 as a crisis that enabled executives “to structurally change the airline for the better,” Kirby said.“Whether we reach an inflection point in the spring, the summer or the fall, what we know is that a recovery is coming,” he said.In the fourth quarter, United swung to an adjusted loss of $7 a share, 35 cents worse than the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. For all of 2020, United lost $27.57 a share, the largest shortfall in its 94-year history.First-quarter operating revenue will fall as much as 70%, the company said, slightly worse than the drop of up to 65% that Delta projected. Looking ahead, United said it has identified $1.4 billion in permanent cost cuts, getting it more than halfway to its goal of $2 billion.‘Inflection Point’The Chicago-based company said customers are eager to travel as Covid-19 vaccine distribution expands. Consumers appear ready to research trips and travel later this year, said Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella.United expects leisure demand to rebound in the second half, spurred by vaccinations, while business traffic will take 18 to 24 months to recover, he said.The airline is also counting on international profits to outpace domestic performance. Several carriers have culled large jets such as the Boeing Co. 747 and Airbus SE A380 from their schedules, and Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA has scuttled its long-haul network.As a result, Nocella said, capacity is likely to lag demand in many international markets once vaccines become widespread and border restrictions ease.“We do think there is a bunch of structural change there that will lead to stronger relative performance,” he said. “And that should benefit United more than our competitors.”(Updates with CEO comment in third paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
- Bloomberg
United Targets Pre-Virus Margins in 2023 After Record Loss
(Bloomberg) -- United Airlines Holdings Inc. is mapping a recovery from last year’s record loss with a plan that calls for topping pre-pandemic profit margins in 2023.This year will serve as a “transition” after the collapse in travel demand because of Covid-19, United said in an earnings statement Wednesday. The company expressed “high confidence” that its 2023 profit margin as measured by adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization would exceed that of 2019. Its Ebitda margin that year was almost 16%.United’s focus on the long term underscored the bleak outlook for the coming months as the coronavirus pandemic continues to gut travel demand. First-quarter operating revenue will fall as much as 70%, the company said, slightly worse than the drop of up to 65% that Delta Air Lines Inc. projected last week. Looking ahead, however, United said it has identified $1.4 billion in permanent cost cuts, getting it more than halfway to its goal of $2 billion.“The truth is that Covid-19 has changed United Airlines forever,” Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said in the statement.The shares fell 2.3% to $44.14 after the close of regular trading in New York. United tumbled 50% in the 12 months through Wednesday, the worst among major U.S. carriers.Record LossUnited swung to an adjusted fourth-quarter loss of $7 a share, 35 cents worse than the average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. For all of 2020, United lost $27.57 a share, the largest shortfall in its 94-year history.The Chicago-based company will discuss its results and outlook on a conference call Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. Investors will be listening for any sign of a “snapback” in demand, said Helane Becker, an analyst at Cowen & Co.“Trading activity tomorrow will likely hinge on management comments about summer bookings and if they’ve seen any increased activity to support the idea of pent-up demand,” Becker said in a note to clients.In a separate filing, United said it had accepted $2.6 billion in U.S. funds on Jan. 15 as part of a federal package supporting airline employees’ wages through March 31. As part of that agreement, United issued warrants for the Treasury to buy 1.7 million company shares.Cash BurnUnited said it burned through $33 million a day in cash during the fourth quarter, up from $25 million during the previous three-month period.The airline also introduced a new cash-burn metric, which excludes debt payments, severance and certain capital spending projects. By that measure, United went through $19 million a day in the fourth quarter, a $5 million improvement compared with the third quarter.While the company didn’t project its cash burn in the first quarter, it said available liquidity as of March 31 would be similar to its $19.7 billion level at the end of last year.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
