Delta's Fuel Bill Cut Quarterly Net Income To $756 Million, But Adjusted Earnings Edged Up
Adjusted revenue hit a September-quarter record, and Delta guided to full-year earnings of $5.10 to $5.60 per share.
Delta Air Lines' net income for the September quarter fell to $756 million from $1.417 billion a year earlier, while adjusted earnings per share edged up to $1.72 from $1.70, according to an 8-K filed Friday. Adjusted revenue set a September-quarter record at $17.6 billion, up 16%.
Two sets of earnings, two directions
On standard accounting, earnings per share were $1.15 versus $2.17 a year earlier. Pre-tax income was $1.074 billion against $1.777 billion.
The gap comes from items Delta strips out of its adjusted figures: a $218 million loss on investments, $208 million of hedge adjustments and settlements, and refinery sales to third parties. Adjusted pre-tax income was $1.497 billion versus $1.477 billion. CEO Ed Bastian said pre-tax profit of $1.5 billion matched last year.
Adjusted operating income slipped to $1.662 billion from $1.688 billion, and the adjusted operating margin was 9.4% against 11.1%.
Fuel is the squeeze
Adjusted fuel expense rose 62% to $4.1 billion. The adjusted price was $3.61 a gallon, up 60%, including a 13-cent-a-gallon refinery benefit.
Non-fuel unit costs rose 7.3% on flat capacity. CFO Erik Snell said that came mainly from higher crew and revenue-related costs, with capacity several points below the original plan, including nearly one point from summer storms. He said Delta absorbed more than $500 million of fuel costs above its early-July guidance.
Free cash flow was $463 million, down from $833 million a year earlier.
Revenue and the outlook
Adjusted unit revenue grew 15%. Cargo revenue rose 29% and maintenance-business revenue rose 28%. Premium revenue grew 18%, and loyalty revenue 18%.
For the December quarter, Delta forecast revenue growth of about 20% and earnings of $1.15 to $1.65 per share. That assumes fuel of about $4.25 a gallon, including a refinery benefit of about $0.40 a gallon.
For the full year, it expects earnings of $5.10 to $5.60 per share and free cash flow of about $2.5 billion. Bastian said the roughly $4.5 billion pre-tax profit is "absorbing a $6 billion increase in fuel costs." Snell said Delta plans to pay down more than $2 billion of debt, ending the year with gross leverage of about 2.2 times.
Adjusted net debt stood at $13.4 billion at quarter-end, down $950 million from the end of 2025, with liquidity of $6.9 billion.
