Delta Air Lines unveils disappointing fourth-quarter guidance

Investing.com -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL ) has unveiled current-quarter earnings guidance that missed analysts expectations, as the US carrier grapples with the fallout from a summer computer network outage and pricing pressures from overcapacity.

The company said it now expects to report fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of between $1.60 to $1.85, missing Wall Street estimates of $1.78 at the midpoint, according to Bloomberg News.

Shares in Atlanta-based Delta dipped in premarket US trading following the announcement.

In July, a system-wide meltdown stemming from a faulty update from cybersecurity group CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD ) led to widespread flight cancellations. Delta was particularly hard hit, cancelling 7,000 of flights over five days.

Delta said the direct financial impact from the incident was approximately $380 million, primarily driven by refunds given to customers in the form of cash and frequent flyer miles. Non-fuel expenses amount to $170 million, while fuel costs were $50 million lower than they would have been had the flights not been cancelled.

Earnings per share were also dented by $0.45. However, Delta has said that, when excluding the outage, annual adjusted income will be at or above the midpoint of its $6 to $7 per share guidance range.

(This is a developing story. Please check back later for updates.)

Source: Investing.com