Delta Air Lines says the next three months could be bumpy.
On Tuesday, the company forecast earnings per share of 70 cents to 90 cents, far below Wall Street estimates. A year ago Delta earned 74 cents a share in the fourth quarter. Delta also said a key measure of revenue from fares is likely to be flat.
Shares of Delta (DAL) fell as much as 1.6% in premarket trading.
The guidance took some rivals’ stocks down with it. United Continental, (UAL) which is set to report earnings after the market close, fell 1%. Shares of American (AAL) also fell 1%.
So I’m at @ATLairport and this may be the longest security line I have ever seen. Even growing up here, and even for a Monday morning. One passenger told me he’d been waiting over an hour and still had about 30 minutes to go. pic.twitter.com/UL7EghujQI
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenezCNN) January 14, 2019
The government shutdown is among the issues, CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview on CNBC Tuesday morning.
He estimated that the airline has already lost $25 million in revenue this month because fewer government contractors have been traveling. The shutdown started on December 22 and is now longest on record. About 800,000 government employees have been furloughed without pay.
Earlier this month a warning from Delta that business travel was a bit softer than expected at the end of the fourth quarter was enough to send airline stocks sharply lower.
But Delta’s fourth quarter results ended up not being all that bad.
Earnings were a few cents a share better than estimates, and overall revenue for the quarter fell in line with forecasts.
