The airline industry and sector-related exchange traded fund are flying higher after Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) revealed a strong third quarter and plans to streamline its business.
The U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSEArca: JETS) was up 0.5% Wednesday while DAL was 1.6% higher. DAL makes up 12.0% of JETS’ underlying portfolio, the third largest component.
The airline industry was strengthening after Delta posted earnings per share of $1.74 on revenue of $11.11 billion, beating analyst estimates, reports Fred Imbert for CNBC.
Moreover, Delta’s plans for greater efficiency through halting its expansion of flight capacity in 2016 in a move to fill up current planes and sell more seats also instilled confidence in market observers.
The airliner expects capacity, or total mileage flown by plane seats, would rise up to 2% next year, reports Jeffrey Dastin for Reuters.
“Investors were concerned about the industry’s capacity growth as many believed the industry lost its discipline due to a lower fuel cost environment,” Cowen & Co. analyst Helane Becker said in a note, Bloomberg reports. “Delta’s 2016 capacity guidance will likely ease concerns of overcapacity.”
The airline industry is currently enjoying higher profits as cheap crude oil help lower costs. Analysts project the six largest carriers could generate a collective adjusted profit of $5.9 billion, a record for the third quarter, due to the cheaper jet fuel costs.