Delta Air Lines Shares Fall As Travel Demand Outlook Weakens: What's Going On?

Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) shares traded as low as $39.94 on Wednesday as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected results from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings that reignited concerns about discretionary travel demand amid mounting economic headwinds.

What To Know: Norwegian missed EPS and revenue estimates for the first quarter, posting a 56% year-over-year decline in EPS and slightly weaker sales. Despite reaffirming its full-year guidance, the cruise operator reported softening booking trends and a modest downward revision in forward net yield growth.

Notably, management cited macroeconomic volatility, foreign exchange losses and changing consumer behavior — such as lower air-inclusive package participation — as key pressures.

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While Delta is not in the cruise sector, its core business of premium air travel closely correlates with consumer discretionary spending on leisure and vacation-related travel.

Norwegian's commentary on reduced passenger air participation and a weaker 12-month forward booking position raised red flags about the resilience of U.S. outbound travel demand, particularly for higher-cost international routes.

Coupled with broader concerns about an economic slowdown following this morning's negative GDP surprise, Delta and other travel-exposed stocks faced renewed selling pressure.

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How To Buy DAL Stock

By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Delta Air Lines – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.

Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.

In the case of Delta Air Lines, which is trading at $41.4 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 2.42 shares of stock.

If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, DAL has a 52-week high of $69.98 and a 52-week low of $34.74. Delta Air Lines stock was down 1.34% at $41.52 at the time of publication Wednesday.

Photo: kamilpetran/Shutterstock.