DALDelta Air Lines
Is the business good?
The checks split: earnings fully cash-backed (1.9×), but returns that lean on debt.
Operating profit is fully backed by cash. Conversion is improving vs a year ago.
Operating profit is falling even as sales grow, costs are outrunning the top line.
Leverage-amplified, a high assets-to-equity ratio does much of the work. ROE 22% = margin × turnover × leverage.
Unless marked, from derived.
Against the whole market›
Percentile against every name Ryufin tracks. Higher is better; the tick marks the middle of the market. Context, not one of the checks above.
Where this answer is blind. The F-score rewards improvement, so an already-elite company can score mid-pack.
How good a business is DAL?
Delta Air Lines earns 14% on the capital it employs against a 9.0% cost of capital, so the business is worth more the bigger it gets.
Return on invested capital · cost of capital 9.0% · 5.5 points above what the capital costs: growth creates value
- Operating margin
- 8.1%
Operating margin · Airlines median 7.9% · 12 months to Q2 2026
- Cash conversion
- 1.90×
Cash conversion · 1.61× a year ago · operating cash flow covers the operating profit after tax
- Share count, year on year
- +0.92%
Share count, year on year · flat: no meaningful dilution
| Year | Operating margin |
|---|---|
| FY2020 | −73% |
| FY2021 | 6.3% |
| FY2022 | 7.2% |
| FY2023 | 9.5% |
| FY2024 | 9.7% |
| FY2025 | 9.2% |
Details›
- Operating margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 8.1%
- Net margin12 months to Q2 2026
- 5.8%
- Free cash flow margin
- 4.9%
- Revenue, trailing twelve months
- $68.3B
- Free cash flow, trailing twelve months
- $3.35B
- Net income, trailing twelve months
- $3.95B
- Return on invested capitaloperating profit after tax ÷ debt + equity − cash
- 14%
Margins, capital and share counts from the statements as filed with the SEC; cash conversion is operating cash flow over operating profit after tax.
Airlines
The closest names by size in the same industry