Deutsche Bank Maintains Buy, $16 PT on Delta Air Lines

Deutsche Bank reiterates its Buy rating and $16 target price on Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) as margin expansion underscores the resiliency of its model.

Deutsche Bank notes, “Despite a year of many challenges, Delta is on track to produce a $1.1 billion net profit (which includes a Dec Q net profit of $287 million), $1.5 billion of free cash flow, and an 8.8% return on invested capital. Those anticipated results and the fact that company fully recovered the run-up in fuel prices during 2011 are an indication that Delta (and much of the industry) may have entered a new era – i.e. one that is driven by profit maximization.”

DAL closed at $8.15 per share on Wednesday.