The framework has shifted from accumulation to markdown since the last review. Price is trending lower. Sellers are in control and the prior trend has reversed. Price has moved down 3.7% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with strong ethical credentials. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 23% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading bullish. Over the past year the shares are up 51%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 29%. The street (24 analysts) rates it strong buy, with a mean price target of $105.
Delta Air Lines
DAL · a US exchange · USD · Market cap $51.9B · 103,000 employees
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
PASS · Titan Ethical · score 86.4At the last full screen
2026-09-08
Screened 2026-09-08 · the tape above runs as of 22:36 UTC · two dates, stated on purpose · verdict and workings shown in full · never trimmed
This name holds its markdown label.
Delta Air Lines holds its Markdown at $78.96. Consolidating, no directional conviction, held for 45 days.
| Phase | Markdown · caution |
| Quantitative state | Consolidating, no directional conviction, held for 45 days |
| Price at the screen | $78.96 |
| Valuation | 13.09 trailing · 9.08 forward price to earnings |
| Values screen | PASS · score 86.4 |
| Beta | 1.29 |
Five Screens, Shown in Full
Full pass across all five screens. This security clears the Titan Ethical Standard: its business and its balance sheet both stay inside the lines.
| Test | Figure | Limit | What it means | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business activity | Permissible | Core business clean | Its core business isn't built on prohibited lines: no gambling, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, or interest-based lending. | Pass |
| Debt load | 24.93% | Below 33% | Interest-bearing debt is just 24.9% of its assets, well under the one-third ceiling: it does not run on borrowed money. | Pass |
| Interest-bearing cash | 5.19% | Below 33% | Cash held in interest-bearing accounts and securities is 5.2% of assets, under the one-third limit. | Pass |
| Receivables | 8.81% | Below 49% | Money owed to the company is 8.8% of assets, under the 49% limit. | Pass |
| Revenue purity | 0.00% | Below 5% | Only 0.0% of revenue comes from non-compliant sources, under the 5% line. | Pass |
Five checks adapted from AAOIFI screening standards: business activity plus four balance-sheet ratios. All five must pass for ethical clearance. Every figure is arithmetic on public accounts, not judgement.
What the Numbers Say It Is WorthThe Fair Value Range
Our framework reads OPPORTUNITY: it trades at roughly a 13% discount to our $89.23 fair value, narrow competitive moat, 18.70% revenue growth.
Fair value range in USD, drawn from the 2026-09-08 screen. The gold marker is the market price at the same screen. A 13.0% margin of safety to the base estimate.
Third-party analyst targets: 24 covering, consensus Strong Buy. The average target sits +33% from the screen price.
Reading the gap · Both our model and the analysts see meaningful upside from here.
Price History & ProjectionsWhere it has been, where the models see it going. History from market close data; projection points are our fair-value estimates and third-party analyst targets, dated to the 2026-09-08 screen.
Fair value and rating are our own model estimates; the Street's range reflects third-party analyst estimates. Analysis, not advice.
The Business, in Plain WordsCheap airline multiples often hide the cycle peak
Picture a full flight pushing back from Atlanta on a Friday evening. Delta carries more passengers than most rivals and the latest figures show revenue up 19 percent with return on equity at 20 percent.
Those numbers place the shares on a forward multiple of 9.5 times, inside opportunity territory with a narrow moat and a clean ethical pass. The modest margin of safety above the current price looks attractive at first glance.
Airlines remain classic cyclical businesses though. A low multiple here may simply mark peak earnings rather than a bargain, and any drop in travel demand or jump in fuel costs can erase profits quickly.
Analysis, not advice.
| Forward P/E | 9.1xcheap for a company growing this fast |
| Trailing P/E | 13.1xreasonably valued |
| EPS, trailing | 6.03 |
| EPS, forward | 8.69 |
| Revenue growth | +18.7%steady growth |
| Profit margin | 5.8%thin but positive margins |
| Return on equity | 20.1%an exceptional return on shareholder capital |
| FCF yield | 5.43% |
| Dividend yield | 1.05% |
| Debt to equity | 0.97moderate, manageable leverage |
| Current ratio | 0.42below 1: short-term bills exceed liquid assets |
| Beta | 1.29moves a little more than the market |
| Short interest, float | 0.03% |
| 52-week range | 55.03 - 95.68 |
| Moat | NARROW |
| Market cap | $51.9B |
| Employees | 103,000 |
The risks · The main risks here are ordinary market swings and the chance our fair-value read proves too optimistic.
Plain-English interpretation of our own screen data. Analysis, not advice.
Where & How to TradeDAL trades on a US exchange. As a listed security it is accessible through almost any international broker offering its home market. New to this, or investing from abroad? Our guide to accessing global markets covers brokers, currencies and the practical steps.
Every Entry, As Written
The framework has shifted from markup to accumulation since the last review. Smart money appears to be quietly building positions. This typically precedes a markup phase. Price has moved up 6.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with strong ethical credentials. The risk-adjusted return profile shows modest positive risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 23% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading bullish. Over the past year the shares are up 51%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 29%. The street (25 analysts) rates it strong buy, with a mean price target of $80.
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with strong ethical credentials. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns. Our composite framework grades it B, carrying a low risk profile. Technically it is holding around 23% above its long-term trend line with momentum reading bullish. Over the past year the shares are up 51%. Our forward projection puts the odds of a 10% gain over the next month near 29%. The street (25 analysts) rates it strong buy, with a mean price target of $80.
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Price has moved down 0.0% since our last review. Ethical screening: PASS with strong ethical credentials. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns.
The framework reads markup. Price is trending higher with momentum. The crowd has caught on and buyers are in control. Ethical screening: PASS with strong ethical credentials. The risk-adjusted return profile shows good risk-adjusted returns.
Each entry above was written on its date, before the outcome. A journal you can prune is not a journal.
- Jim Cramer Says Oracle Is “Going Down” and Avoid Every Liquor Stock. Here’s What He’d Buy Instead 24/7 Wall St. · 17 Jul 2026
- Delta vs. United Airlines Stock: Which Is the Better Buy After Q2 Earnings? Zacks · 17 Jul 2026
- San Antonio to Borrow $944 Million for Major Airport Expansion Bloomberg · 17 Jul 2026
- 3 Stocks Smart Investors Are Buying in July 24/7 Wall St. · 17 Jul 2026
- UAL Vs DAL: United And Delta Delivered Strong Quarters – But One Earnings Detail Could Matter More Stocktwits · 17 Jul 2026
Headlines from third-party outlets, linked for reference: not our reporting, not advice.
Screened names in the same industry · explore each on its own page.
| Date | Insider | Title | Type | Shares | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-07 | BELLEMARE ALAIN | Officer | 20,621 | $1,500,198 | |
| 2026-04-22 | MCCONNELL JULIA ANN | Officer | 740 | · | |
| 2026-04-14 | LAUGHTER JOHN E. | Chief Operating Officer | 15,000 | $1,074,090 | |
| 2026-04-10 | LAUGHTER JOHN E. | Officer | 22,540 | $1,153,862 | |
| 2026-04-10 | LAUGHTER JOHN E. | Officer | 69,304 | $4,722,929 | |
| 2026-04-01 | CARTER PETER W | President | 2,960 | · | |
| 2026-04-01 | JANKI DANIEL C | Chief Operating Officer | 5,550 | · | |
| 2026-04-01 | BELLEMARE ALAIN | Officer | 2,470 | · | |
| 2026-04-01 | SNELL ERIK STOREY | Chief Financial Officer | 7,400 | · | |
| 2026-02-26 | BASTIAN EDWARD H | Chief Executive Officer | 100,000 | $7,025,700 |
Public filings, recorded as found. The full tape lives at Insider Intelligence.
| Date | Politician | Party | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-11 | Ro Khanna | Democrat | buy | 1K–15K |
| 2026-08-11 | Ro Khanna | Democrat | buy | 1K–15K |
| 2026-08-11 | Ro Khanna | Democrat | buy | 1K–15K |
| 2026-07-31 | Dave McCormick | Republican | sell | 50K–100K |
| 2026-07-31 | Dave McCormick | Republican | sell | 50K–100K |
| Period | Price then | Price return | Divs per share | $1,000 became | Total return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 month | $71.01 | +8.3% | $0.19 | $1,086 | +8.6% |
| 2 months | $67.64 | +13.7% | $0.19 | $1,140 | +14.0% |
| 3 months | $57.79 | +33.1% | $0.19 | $1,335 | +33.5% |
| 6 months | $70.18 | +9.6% | $0.38 | $1,101 | +10.1% |
| 1 year | $51.07 | +50.6% | $0.75 | $1,521 | +52.1% |
| 2 years | $49.32 | +56.0% | $1.35 | $1,587 | +58.7% |
| 3 years | $38.01 | +102.4% | $1.75 | $2,070 | +107.0% |
| 5 years | $45.00 | +71.0% | $1.75 | $1,749 | +74.9% |
Historical returns from market close data. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
This entry now belongs to the ledger. Whatever DAL does next, these words stay.
Thirteen thousand names carry this page. One desk keeps them honest.
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Join the deskScreening is research, not a fatwa and not financial advice. Figures are drawn from public accounts at the screen date shown. Always manage your risk.