Delta Surges as Strong Demand Lifts Profit Above Estimates

Delta Air Lines Inc. shares jumped after the carrier’s profit beat Wall Street’s estimates for the final months of 2024, buoyed by gains in both the US market and overseas. The company doesn’t expect the momentum to slow in the new year.

Adjusted profit will be 70 cents to $1 a share this quarter, the airline said in a statement Friday that also included fourth-quarter 2024 financial results. That compares with a 76-cent average from analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue will increase as much as 9% from a year ago, the carrier said, while analysts expected a 5.75% jump.

“The supply-demand balance is as good as I can ever recall it being as we look into 2025,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in an interview. “We have pretty good visibility through the first quarter and into the spring.”

Delta shares surged 7.1% before regular trading in New York, which would be the biggest gain since October 2022 if it holds into the regular session. The results pulled other carriers higher: United Airlines Holdings Inc. climbed 6.9%, while American Airlines Group Inc. was up 6% and Southwest Airlines Co. 3.2%.

An upturn in fares

The upbeat outlook from Delta, the first major US carrier to release results, reflects an upturn in fares after airlines slowed expansion in the domestic market and healthy demand for international flights even during the winter. These factors, along with new premium products sold by discount carriers, should produce a US industry profit in the historically weak first quarter for the first time since 2019, according to Deutsche Bank.