Originally Posted by
Waves
This just in: "Delta Air Lines says it will likely post a loss for the second quarter. Delta lost money on fuel hedges in May and June, which pushed its fuel costs for the quarter to $3.37 per gallon." Record profits indeed! BTW: I'm not predicting doom and gloom, I'm just hedging against it. Additionally, nearly everything in that last “doom and gloom” statement has already occurred. No “foolish” predictions are necessary. If you choose to ignore them, it is your prerogative. Oh, and one more thing: Most of what is happening in the world today is unprecedented. It’s not as benign and simple as you put it, “That is always crap going on and if you want to focus on that you can, but the fact is that the sky is not falling. What you wrote about the future boils down to foolishness really...” I’m glad you can sit back and relax without a care while the World is on fire. I truly hope that works out for ya.
The second largest U.S. airline Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) expects second quarter unit revenue (or revenue per available seat miles) to grow 8% year over year thanks to the growing business travel demand and flight expansion in the New York market. The addition of novel features to its services as well as introduction of new products is also expected to boost revenue.
Due to the drop in fuel prices, the company foresees $155 million loss from fuel hedging strategies in the second quarter. Delta Air Lines was 70% hedged for the second quarter at a jet fuel price of $3.05–$3.40 per gallon using collars and call spreads. As a result, the company expects to record operating loss in the quarter with negative 1% margin after accounting for the hedges and other special charges.
However, on a non-GAAP basis, the company still expects operating margin in the range of 8–10% and consolidated unit cost, excluding fuel, to grow 3-4% year over year. Additionally, the company expects both domestic and international flying to decline 1–2% year over year.
Now, the company estimates fuel price of $3.37 per gallon for the ongoing quarter, up from the previous forecast of $3.28 per gallon attributable to hedge losses that were settled in May and June.
For the second quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Delta remains unchanged at 80 cents over the last 7 days but fell by a penny in the last 30 days. The estimate represents a massive growth of 84.88% from the year-ago quarter.
Further, Delta Air Lines, which competes strongly with United Continental Holdings Inc. (UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), continues to have a healthy balance sheet. The company expects to exit the quarter with $5.3 billion in unrestricted liquidity including $3.5 billion in cash and short-term investments, and $1.8 billion in undrawn revolving credit facilities.
We are currently maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on Delta Air Lines. For the short term, the stock retains a Zacks #3 (Hold) Rank.
So without the writeoffs, delta profit will be 80 cents a share....double last year.