Delta Airlines Inc. reported higher-than-expected third quarter earnings, while its revenues matched expectations.
The airline’s adjusted earnings for the three months ending in September increased +29% year-over-year to $2.32 per share - 5 cents ahead of the Street consensus forecast.
Net revenues rose +6.5% to $12.6 billion, largely in line with analysts' forecasts.
Delta expects its current quarter earnings to range between $1.20 and $1.50 per share, and projects revenues to grow by more than +5% from the prior year quarter.
Looking farther ahead, the company predicts that fiscal full-year 2019 earnings would range between $6.75 and $7.25 per share. It expects and a full-year pre-tax profit margin improvement of between 14.5% and 16.5% for the year.
Separately, Delta also revealed that it is expanding its workforce this year and next by 12,000 as it seeks to expand operations. “We’re hiring pilots, we’re hiring flight attendants, we’re hiring ground staff. We’re hiring in all categories of the company,” CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview Thursday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”