The first big week of the new earnings season continues with several big companies reporting earnings before Thursday’s opening bell.<\/p>\n
The first three of the country’s largest banks reported quarterly results Wednesday morning, and two more, plus the world’s largest asset manager, report on Thursday. A major airline, a Dow 30 component, a specialty retailer and more are scheduled to report Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
Last year was dismal for U.S. air carriers. Delta Air Lines Co. (NYSE: DAL) saw its shares fall by nearly 31% in 2021, though its losses were the smallest of any legacy carrier. That’s the context for the company’s one-year share price gain of nearly 95% and the year-to-date gain of about 41% \u2014 been down so low, everything looks like up. While air traffic is up by a factor of 10 year over year, it remains roughly half the size of 2019 traffic. Industry analysts expect Delta to continue posting daily cash burns of $12 million to $14 million for at least another quarter.<\/p>\n
Of 18 analyst ratings, all are Buy or Strong Buy. The consensus price target on Delta stock is $52.76, implying a potential upside of around 11%, based on a recent price of around $47.50 per share. At the high target of $72, the implied upside is nearly 52%.<\/p>\n
Analysts expect Delta to post a first-quarter loss per share of $2.91 on revenue of $3.98 billion. In the first quarter of last year, Delta posted a net loss per share of $0.51 on $8.59 billion in revenue.<\/p>\n
The stock trades at a multiple of 12.6 times estimated 2022 EPS and 7.8 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $17.51 to $52.28. Delta has suspended its dividend.<\/p>\n
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE: UNH) is the nation’s largest health insurer and one of 30 stocks included in the Dow Jones industrial average. The stock has gained about 45% in the past 12 months, even though growth since the beginning of the year has been a rather modest 8%. The interesting thing about United Healthcare is that revenue has risen steadily over the past half-dozen years, and so has net income. The stock may be fully valued at its current price, but that doesn’t mean growth has evaporated.<\/p>\n
Of 22 analyst ratings, all are Buy or Strong Buy. The consensus price target on United Healthcare stock is $403.83, implying a potential upside of around 7.2%, based on a recent price of around $376.60 per share. At the high target of $462, the implied upside is more than 14%.<\/p>\n
Analysts expect the company to post first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) of $4.36 on revenue of $69.27 billion. In the first quarter of last year, United Healthcare posted $3.72 in EPS and revenue of $64.42 billion.<\/p>\n
The stock trades at a multiple of 20.7 times expected 2021 EPS, 17.8 times estimated 2022 EPS and 15.7 times estimated 2023 earnings. The stock’s 52-week range is $267.00 to $380.50, and the company pays an annual dividend of $5.00 (yield of 1.33%).<\/p>\n