Earnings Preview for Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines DAL announces its next round of earnings this Thursday, January 14. Here is Benzinga's everything-that-matters guide for this Thursday's Q4 earnings announcement.

Net Income, Earnings, And Earnings Per Share

Earnings and especially earnings per share (EPS) are useful measures of a company's profitability. Total earnings, which is also referred to as net income, equals total revenue minus total expenses. EPS equals to net income divided by the number of shares outstanding.

Earnings And Revenue

Based on management's projections, Delta Air Lines analysts modeled for a loss of $2.48 per share on sales of $3.66 billion. In the same quarter last year, Delta Air Lines reported EPS of $1.7 on revenue of $11.44 billion.

What Are Analyst Estimates And Earnings Surprises, And Why Do They Matter?

Analysts who cover this company will publish forward-looking estimates of its revenue and EPS each quarter. Averaging together every EPS and revenue prediction that each analyst makes about a company in a quarter yields the "consensus estimates." A company posting earnings or revenue above or below the consensus estimate is known as an "earnings surprise" and may move the stock by a considerable margin.

If the company were to match the consensus estimate when it reports Thursday, EPS would have fallen 245.88%. Sales would be down 68.0% on a year-over-year basis. Here is how the company's EPS has stacked up against analyst estimates in the past:

Stock Performance

Shares of Delta Air Lines were trading at $40.305 as of January 12. Over the last 52-week period, shares are down 35.54%. Given that these returns are generally negative, long-term shareholders are probably unhappy going into this earnings release.

Do not be surprised to see the stock move on comments made during its conference call. Delta Air Lines is scheduled to hold the call at 10:00:00 ET and can be accessed here.