DAL (Delta Air Lines) Piotroski F-Score: 8 (As of Jun. 24, 2026) — 33% Above Median


DAL Delta Air Lines Inc DAL
79 GF Score
Price $90.27
GF Value $54.11
Valuation Significantly Overvalued
! 10 Warning Signs
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What is Delta Air Lines Piotroski F-Score?

Delta Air Lines DAL +4.09% 79 Piotroski F-Score is 8 as of Jun. 24, 2026, which is 33% above its 10-year median of 6.00. GuruFocus rates DAL with a GF Score™ of 79/100 and a GF Value™ of $54.11 (Significantly Overvalued). The stock has 10 warning signs investors should review. Among 980 Transportation companies, Delta Air Lines ranks better than 97.35% on this metric.

Good Sign:

Piotroski F-Score is 8, indicates a very healthy situation.

The zones of discrimination were as such:

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Delta Air Lines has an F-score of 8. It is a good or high score, which usually indicates a very healthy situation.

The historical rank and industry rank for Delta Air Lines's Piotroski F-Score or its related term are showing as below:

DAL' s Piotroski F-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 1   Med: 6   Max: 8
Current: 8

During the past 13 years, the highest Piotroski F-Score of Delta Air Lines was 8. The lowest was 1. And the median was 6.

Delta Air Lines  (NYSE:DAL) Piotroski F-Score Explanation

The developer of the system is Joseph D. Piotroski is relatively unknown accounting professor who shuns publicity and rarely gives interviews.

He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in accounting in 1989, received an M.B.A. from Indiana University in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, after earning a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an associate professor of accounting at the University of Chicago.

In 2000, he wrote a research paper called "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers" (pdf).

He wanted to see if he can develop a system (using a simple nine-point scoring system) that can increase the returns of a strategy of investing in low price to book (referred to in the paper as high book to market) value companies.

What he found was something that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.

Buying only those companies that scored highest (8 or 9) on his nine-point scale, or F-Score as he called it, over the 20 year period from 1976 to 1996 led to an average out-performance over the market of 13.4%.

Even more impressive were the results of a strategy of investing in the highest F-Score companies (8 or 9) and shorting companies with the lowest F-Score (0 or 1).

Over the same period from 1976 to 1996 (20 years) this strategy led to an average yearly return of 23%, substantially outperforming the average S&P 500 index return of 15.83% over the same period.


Delta Air Lines Piotroski F-Score Related Terms


Delta Air Lines Piotroski F-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for Delta Air Lines's Piotroski F-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Delta Air Lines Piotroski F-Score Chart

Delta Air Lines Annual Data
Trend Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Piotroski F-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 7.00 8.00 7.00 6.00 7.00

Delta Air Lines Quarterly Data
Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Piotroski F-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 5.00 5.00 7.00 7.00 8.00

DAL vs UAL, LUV, AAL: Piotroski F-Score Comparison

For the Airlines subindustry, Delta Air Lines's Piotroski F-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Piotroski F-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Delta Air Lines Piotroski F-Score vs Transportation Industry

For the Transportation industry and Industrials sector, Delta Air Lines's Piotroski F-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Delta Air Lines's Piotroski F-Score falls into.


DAL
79GF Score
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL
Piotroski F-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

How is the Piotroski F-Score calculated?

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar26) TTM:Last Year (Mar25) TTM:
Net Income was 2130 + 1417 + 1219 + -289 = $4,477 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 1857 + 1847 + 2260 + 2432 = $8,396 Mil.
Revenue was 16648 + 16673 + 16003 + 15854 = $65,178 Mil.
Gross Profit was 4568 + 4073 + 3782 + 2947 = $15,370 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of this year (Mar25)
to the end of this year (Mar26) was
(77342 + 78395 + 79623 + 81317 + 84431) / 5 = $80221.6 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of this year (Mar25) was $77,342 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $16,374 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $13,663 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $32,699 Mil.
Net Income was 1305 + 1272 + 843 + 240 = $3,660 Mil.

Revenue was 16658 + 15677 + 15559 + 14040 = $61,934 Mil.
Gross Profit was 4600 + 3827 + 4019 + 2937 = $15,383 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of last year (Mar24)
to the end of last year (Mar25) was
(74969 + 75197 + 75368 + 75372 + 77342) / 5 = $75649.6 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of last year (Mar24) was $74,969 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $18,590 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $11,236 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $29,699 Mil.

*Note: If the latest quarterly/semi-annual/annual total assets data is 0, then we will use previous quarterly/semi-annual/annual data for all the items in the balance sheet.

Profitability

Question 1. Return on Assets (ROA)

Net income before extraordinary items for the year divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Delta Air Lines's current Net Income (TTM) was 4,477. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 2. Cash Flow Return on Assets (CFROA)

Net cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Delta Air Lines's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 8,396. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 3. Change in Return on Assets

Compare this year's return on assets (1) to last year's return on assets.

Score 1 if it's higher, 0 if it's lower.

ROA (This Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Mar25)
=4477/77342
=0.05788575

ROA (Last Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Mar24)
=3660/74969
=0.04882018

Delta Air Lines's return on assets of this year was 0.05788575. Delta Air Lines's return on assets of last year was 0.04882018. ==> This year is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 4. Quality of Earnings (Accrual)

Compare Cash flow return on assets (2) to return on assets (1)

Score 1 if CFROA > ROA, 0 if CFROA <= ROA.

Delta Air Lines's current Net Income (TTM) was 4,477. Delta Air Lines's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 8,396. ==> 8,396 > 4,477 ==> CFROA > ROA ==> Score 1.

Funding

Question 5. Change in Gearing or Leverage

Compare this year's gearing (long-term debt divided by average total assets) to last year's gearing.

Score 0 if this year's gearing is higher, 1 otherwise.

Gearing (This Year: Mar26)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Mar25 to Mar26
=16374/80221.6
=0.20410962

Gearing (Last Year: Mar25)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Mar24 to Mar25
=18590/75649.6
=0.24573825

Delta Air Lines's gearing of this year was 0.20410962. Delta Air Lines's gearing of last year was 0.24573825. ==> This year is lower or equal to last year. ==> Score 1.

Question 6. Change in Working Capital (Liquidity)

Compare this year's current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) to last year's current ratio.

Score 1 if this year's current ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Current Ratio (This Year: Mar26)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=13663/32699
=0.41784152

Current Ratio (Last Year: Mar25)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=11236/29699
=0.37832924

Delta Air Lines's current ratio of this year was 0.41784152. Delta Air Lines's current ratio of last year was 0.37832924. ==> This year's current ratio is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 7. Change in Shares in Issue

Compare the number of shares in issue this year, to the number in issue last year.

Score 0 if there is larger number of shares in issue this year, 1 otherwise.

Delta Air Lines's number of shares in issue this year was 652. Delta Air Lines's number of shares in issue last year was 652. ==> There is smaller number of shares in issue this year, or the same. ==> Score 1.

Efficiency

Question 8. Change in Gross Margin

Compare this year's gross margin (Gross Profit divided by sales) to last year's.

Score 1 if this year's gross margin is higher, 0 if it's lower.

Gross Margin (This Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=15370/65178
=0.23581577

Gross Margin (Last Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=15383/61934
=0.2483773

Delta Air Lines's gross margin of this year was 0.23581577. Delta Air Lines's gross margin of last year was 0.2483773. ==> Last year's gross margin is higher ==> Score 0.

Question 9. Change in asset turnover

Compare this year's asset turnover (total sales for the year divided by total assets at the beginning of the year) to last year's asset turnover ratio.

Score 1 if this year's asset turnover ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Asset Turnover (This Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of This Year (Mar25)
=65178/77342
=0.84272452

Asset Turnover (Last Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of Last Year (Mar24)
=61934/74969
=0.82612813

Delta Air Lines's asset turnover of this year was 0.84272452. Delta Air Lines's asset turnover of last year was 0.82612813. ==> This year's asset turnover is higher. ==> Score 1.

Evaluation

Piotroski F-Score= Que. 1+ Que. 2+ Que. 3+Que. 4+Que. 5+Que. 6+Que. 7+Que. 8+Que. 9
=1+1+1+1+1+1+1+0+1
=8

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Delta Air Lines has an F-score of 8. It is a good or high score, which usually indicates a very healthy situation.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Piotroski F-Score →
What does a Piotroski F-Score of 8 mean?
Delta Air Lines (DAL) has a Piotroski F-Score of 8 as of Jun. 24, 2026. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on Delta Air Lines and its competitors. This is 33% above median its historical median of 6.00. Over the past decade, Delta Air Lines' Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 1.00 to 8.00. According to the industry distribution chart, Delta Air Lines ranks #26 out of 980 companies in the Transportation industry, placing it in the top 2.7%.
Is Delta Air Lines' Piotroski F-Score too high?
Delta Air Lines' current Piotroski F-Score of 8 is 33% above median its 10-year median of 6.00. Over the past 10 years, this metric has ranged from a low of 1.00 to a high of 8.00. The Transportation industry median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00. Delta Air Lines' value of 8 is 33.3% above this industry median. Based on the distribution chart, Delta Air Lines ranks #26 out of 980 companies in the Transportation industry, which is in the top quartile — a strong position relative to peers. Overall, Delta Air Lines has a GF Score™ of 79/100 and is considered Significantly Overvalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does Delta Air Lines' Piotroski F-Score compare to UAL and LUV?
According to the Transportation industry distribution chart, Delta Air Lines ranks #26 out of 980 companies for Piotroski F-Score. This places Delta Air Lines in the top 3% of its industry — outperforming the majority of peers. The industry median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00. Delta Air Lines' value of 8 is 33.3% above this benchmark. Historically, Delta Air Lines' own Piotroski F-Score has ranged from 1.00 to 8.00 over the past decade. While the company's 10-year median is 6.00 vs. the industry median of 6.00, Delta Air Lines has consistently been above the industry average. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Piotroski F-Score for a Transportation company?
The median Piotroski F-Score among Transportation companies is 6.00, based on 980 companies in the industry. Companies in the top quartile (top 25%) have a Piotroski F-Score significantly above this median, while those in the bottom quartile fall well below. However, Piotroski F-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Delta Air Lines's current Piotroski F-Score of 8 is 33.3% above the industry median. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Piotroski F-Score mean?
A high Piotroski F-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Piotroski F-score grades a company's business operating strength from 0-9. View historical data on Delta Air Lines and its competitors. For the Transportation industry, the median Piotroski F-Score is 6.00 — values significantly above this may indicate overvaluation, while values below may suggest a bargain or underlying issues. Delta Air Lines's current Piotroski F-Score is 8, which is 33% above median its own 10-year median of 6.00. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is Delta Air Lines stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Delta Air Lines (DAL) is currently considered Significantly Overvalued. The stock's GF Value™ is $54.11, compared to a current price of $90.27 — trading 66.8% above its estimated fair value. The current Piotroski F-Score is 8, which is 33% above median its 10-year median of 6.00 and 33.3% above the Transportation industry median of 6.00. Delta Air Lines' overall GF Score™ is 79/100 with 10 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Piotroski F-Score calculated?
Piotroski F-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For Delta Air Lines (DAL), the current Piotroski F-Score is 8 as of Jun. 24, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is Delta Air Lines (DAL) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, Delta Air Lines stock appears to be overvalued. The current stock price of $90.27 is trading 66.8% above its estimated GF Value™ of $54.11. GuruFocus considers Delta Air Lines to be Significantly Overvalued.

Key valuation signals for DAL:

  • Piotroski F-Score: 8 (33% above median its 10-year median of 6.00)
  • GF Value™: $54.11 vs. price of $90.27 (66.8% above fair value)
  • GF Score™: 79/100 with 10 warning signs
  • Industry Position: 33.3% above the Transportation median (#26 of 980)

No single metric tells the full story. See the DAL stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.


Delta Air Lines Business Description

Address Post Office Box 20706, Atlanta, GA, USA, 30320-6001
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is one of the world's largest airlines, with a network of over 300 destinations in more than 50 countries. Delta operates a hub-and-spoke network, where it gathers and distributes passengers across the globe through its biggest hubs in Atlanta, New York, Salt Lake City, Detroit, Seattle, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. Delta has historically earned most of its international revenue and profits from flying passengers over the Atlantic Ocean.
79GF Score

Get the complete analysis for DAL

Piotroski F-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

$90.27
Price
$54.11
GF Value