Delta Air Lines Earnings Set Path to New High

On a GAAP basis, the company reported quarterly EPS of $1.59, which includes special items that added $157 million to the company’s GAAP earnings. The special items include a $285 million gain on mark-to-market adjustments for fuel hedges and restructuring, as well as other charges of $128 million.

Delta’s Trainer, Penn., crude oil refinery contributed $3 million to the company’s profit in the third quarter.

The company’s president said:

The revenue environment appears solid through the end of the year, including strong holiday bookings, and we expect to continue to build on the revenue premium we deliver versus the industry.

Fuel costs have dropped from $3.24 a gallon at the end of the first quarter of this year to $3.03 per gallon of jet fuel, which includes a $0.06 per gallon hedging gain.

Delta paid a $0.06 quarterly dividend in September, its first in 10 years. The company also repurchased $100 million in common stock and has $400 million remaining in its current stock buyback program.

For the fourth quarter of 2013, Delta expects to post an operating margin of 7% to 9% on fuel prices of $3.03 to $3.08 per gallon. Seat capacity is expected to be flat to up in a range of 1% to 3%, compared with the fourth quarter of 2012. The consensus analysts’ estimates call for EPS of $0.58 on revenues of $8.88 billion. Delta did not provide revenue or EPS estimates.

Shares were up about 3.3% at $25.60 in premarket trading Tuesday morning, above the top of the 52-week range of $9.21 to $25.43. Prior to the release Thomson/Reuters had a consensus price target of around $28.90 on the company’s shares.