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Delta Air Lines IncDALBUYSep 05, 2017Stock price when the opinion was issued
As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.
There is lots of pessimism in airlines now and airlines are trading at 2020 prices even though the situation is much better. It is the best managed airline in North America and rated the number one airline for the past several years by the wall Street Journal. It is trading at 5 1/2X this year's and next year's earnings.
He also talked about Air Canada which is also at an attractive price. The demand is roaring back but the capacity is well down from 2019. Advance ticket sales are way up. In general the airlines are keeping the supply tight.
Buy 22 Hold 0 Sell 0
DAL is up 41% YTD. It reports July 13, with expectations of $14.3B sales and $2.33 EPS. Earnings could double this year on higher fares and lower fuel costs. Debt is still high at 4X cash flow but that is common for the sector. It remains very cheap at 7X earnings and continues to benefit from the travel recovery. A bad recession could hurt, but recent economic numbers have been fine. We like it today.
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Most airline stocks are trading near their 2020 levels despite the major increase in business. Delta is thought to be the best managed airline in North America and this is backed up by a number of surveys. It is a favourite of Wall Street analysts. It is trading at 6X this year's expected earnings as compared to a historical level of 9X so it is well priced. It does not pay a dividend. Buy 21 Hold 0 Sell 0
Not worried about tomorrow's report, because he strongly believes in the CEO. As for AA's guidance today, AA actually increased their estimates last month. The problem is that street's estimates got ahead of itself. Wants to know how international travel is doing this year, after domestic travel did gangbusters last year.
Transportation stocks have had a kind of bumpy last few months, and have pulled back down, so are more attractive on a valuation perspective. He generally likes airlines. The business has been rationalized as they have "whittled down" to a large handful of players. They seem to be competing less on price, therefore respecting one another’s margins. Labour, etc. seems to have been put in the background. With global economy improving, they are able to keep prices high. This has a PE of less than 10.