Delta Air Lines Reports Soon: How Has The Stock Reacted To Past Earnings?
Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) is set to report its earnings on Friday, October 9, 2026. The company has a market value of about $54.3 billion. Over the last twelve months it generated $68.3 billion in revenue and $5.5 billion in operating profit, with net income of $4.0 billion.
How the stock moves after the release will depend on how the results and outlook compare with expectations. What history can offer is the base rate: how often, and how far, the stock has moved after past reports.
See the earnings reaction history of all stocks
The Post-Earnings Record For Delta Air Lines Stock
Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns, measured from the last close before each release:
- There are 20 earnings releases in the last five years, with 8 positive and 12 negative one-day (1D) returns. Positive 1D returns were seen 40% of the time.
- Over the last three years that share rises to 42%, across 12 releases.
- The median of the 8 positive 1D returns is 5.3%, and the median of the 12 negative ones is -2.4%.
- The largest one-day reactions were 23.4% and -9.0%.
The table below shows the 1D, 5-day (5D) and 21-day (21D) returns after each release, followed by summary statistics.
| Earnings Date | 1D | 5D | 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/10/2026 | -1.8% | -2.6% | 2.6% |
| 4/8/2026 | 3.7% | 9.3% | 11.8% |
| 1/13/2026 | -2.4% | -5.0% | 0.5% |
| 10/9/2025 | 4.3% | 8.0% | 1.5% |
| 7/10/2025 | 12.0% | 9.6% | 6.2% |
| 4/9/2025 | 23.4% | 13.8% | 35.3% |
| 1/10/2025 | 9.0% | 7.7% | 7.8% |
| 10/10/2024 | -1.1% | 10.8% | 18.9% |
| 7/11/2024 | -4.0% | -2.3% | -15.2% |
| 4/10/2024 | -2.3% | -1.6% | 10.5% |
| 1/12/2024 | -9.0% | -11.8% | -4.0% |
| 10/12/2023 | -2.3% | -7.9% | -6.9% |
| 7/13/2023 | -0.5% | 1.5% | -6.2% |
| 4/13/2023 | -1.1% | 6.5% | -1.5% |
| 1/13/2023 | -3.5% | -1.4% | -2.5% |
| 10/13/2022 | 4.0% | 11.3% | 21.5% |
| 7/13/2022 | -4.5% | 4.9% | 9.1% |
| 4/13/2022 | 6.2% | 12.7% | -5.0% |
| 1/13/2022 | 2.1% | -4.4% | 4.2% |
| 10/13/2021 | -5.8% | -7.1% | 0.4% |
| Statistic | 1D | 5D | 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Positive | 8 | 11 | 13 |
| # Negative | 12 | 9 | 7 |
| Median Positive | 5.3% | 9.3% | 7.8% |
| Median Negative | -2.4% | -4.4% | -5.0% |
| Max Positive | 23.4% | 13.8% | 35.3% |
| Max Negative | -9.0% | -11.8% | -15.2% |
Does The First Move Carry On?
Another approach is to wait for the initial reaction and ask whether it tends to continue. The table below shows the correlation between the 1D return and the return over the following 5 and 21 trading days, and between the 5D return and the following 21 trading days. A value near 1 means the first move has tended to continue; near -1, to reverse; near 0, no consistent pattern. None of these correlations is strong enough to trade on: all are below 0.40 in absolute terms over five years, so the early post-earnings move has not reliably predicted what followed.
| History | 1D vs next 5D | 1D vs next 21D | 5D vs next 21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Years | -0.21 | -0.04 | 0.06 |
| 3 Years | -0.27 | 0.03 | 0.21 |
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