UPDATE: Delta Air Posts Better-Than-Expected Q3 Earnings

Delta Air Lines

reported better-than-expected profit for the third quarter. The Atlanta, Georgia-based company posted quarterly net income of $357 million, or $0.42 per share, versus $1.369 billion, or $1.59 per share, in the year-ago quarter. Its adjusted earnings came in at $1.20 per share. Its revenue climbed to $11.178 billion from $10.490 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $1.18 per share on revenue of $11.12 billion. Traffic rose by 3.7% in the quarter. Passenger revenue gained 6%, while cargo revenue rose 7%. Delta generated $910 million of free cash flow during the quarter. The company ended the quarter with $6.4 billion of unrestricted liquidity and adjusted net debt of $7.4 billion. "With another record profit, solid margin expansion and nearly $1 billion of free cash flow, Delta's results are consistent with high-quality S&P 500 industrials," said Richard Anderson, Delta's chief executive officer. "While we have more work ahead of us to achieve our long-term financial goals, we expect a record fourth quarter of 2014 with an operating margin of 10-12%.” Delta projects full-year pre-tax profit of more than $4 billion. Delta shares declined 2.69% to $31.51 in pre-market trading.