Delta’s total unit revenue, excluding refinery sales, jumped 5% with foreign currency contributing about 0.5 points of benefit. Delta is also seeing its best revenue momentum since 2014, with positive domestic unit revenues, improvements in all international entities, strong demand for corporate travel and double-digit increases in loyalty revenues. The company expects to maintain this momentum going forward and deliver total revenue growth of 4% to 6% for the full year.
The stock surged 2.5% in pre-market trading, post the earnings results.
Geographic Highlights
The company saw all its geographic regions deliver positive results, with the Atlantic region reporting double-digit increase in revenue and others posting single-digit increases.
Guidance
For the second quarter of 2018, the company expects EPS in the range of $1.80 to $2.00, while total unit revenue, excluding refinery sales, is expected to be up 3% to 5% year-over-year. On a year-over-year basis, CASM, excluding fuel and profit sharing, is expected to be up 1% to 3% and system capacity is anticipated to increase 3% to 4%.
Earlier in the week United (UAL), American (AAL) and JetBlue (JBLU) raised their Q1 unit revenue targets, in line with Delta, while Southwest Airlines (LUV) cut its unit revenue outlook on the so-called United’s aggressive expansion fears.