Delta climbs after beating on both sales and profit, forecasts a strong end to 2025

America’s largest airline, Delta Air Lines, posted its third-quarter earnings report on Thursday morning, and the results have investors celebrating.

The carrier posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.71, above the $1.53 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet and at the upper end of Delta’s own estimate for the quarter. The figure represents a 14% rise from the same quarter last year, when Delta was significantly impacted by CrowdStrike’s global IT outage.

For the final quarter of the year, Delta said it expects adjusted earnings of between $1.60 and $1.90 per share. That midpoint, $1.75, is higher than analyst estimates of $1.65 per share. Delta also narrowed its full-year earnings outlook to $6, from a range of $5.25 to $6.25 per share. That range was down from the more than $7.35 per share it guided for in January, when it said 2025 had the potential to be its best fiscal year in a century.

Non-GAAP revenue climbed to $15.2 billion, up 4% from last year’s $14.6 billion and roughly 1% ahead of Wall Street estimates of $15.1 billion. Last month, Delta said demand trends had improved and boosted its sales forecast for the third quarter. In the same month, the carrier was dinged by the Trump administration’s order that it dissolve its nine-year joint venture with Aeromexico by the end of the year.

Premium tickets continued to be Delta’s primary growth driver, rising 9% from last year to $5.8 billion. Main cabin ticket sales, meanwhile, fell 4% to $6.1 billion.

On the ongoing government shutdown that has impacted travel times at several major airports across the country, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told CNBC that the airline hasn’t seen “any impacts at all” at this point.

Delta’s credit card partnership with American Express has continued to pay off. The business scored $2 billion for the third straight quarter, up 12% from last year. Industry experts pin airline credit card profit margins at about 50%.