Is DAL a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Delta Air Lines, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how DAL compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to DAL based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes DAL a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

DAL - Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $83.91 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

B- 67.4 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

C+ 60.8

5yr Avg ROIC 8.5% 53/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.82 pp/yr 80/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

B 69.4

5yr Avg ROE 14.1% 77/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR 0.5% 55/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

A+ 100.0

5yr Revenue CAGR 20.7% 100/100
5yr EPS CAGR 104.3% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

D 37.3

5yr FCF Margin 2.6% 38/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 0.38x 37/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

C+ 60.6

Net Debt / EBITDA 2.09x 68/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 8.23x 78/100
Altman Z-Score 1.44 26/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

B- 64.9

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.45 37/100
Piotroski F-Score 7 78/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

5 of 6 gurus held; 1 new buy; 4 trimmed; 2 full exits.

Holders: 5 -1
Avg Δ position: -56.6%
New buys: 1
Full exits: 2

Buffett new
Druckenmiller sold -100%
Tepper sold -100%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.