Delta May Bring Value to Your Long-term Portfolio

Disclaimer: This post does not constitute financial advice. Author has no position in DAL. Do your own due diligence before making an investment.

Delta Air Lines (DAL) is a tricky stock to get a read on. It has many signs pointing for, and many against. On one hand, it could shoot up post COVID-19. On the other, it could be down for a while, as some hedge fund managers believe.

We will discuss why it’s possibly still a good buy despite the unruly climate.

Delta Air Lines has been climbing back steadily despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic took a toll on all travel sectors, but somehow Delta survived what could’ve destroyed the business completely. While there won’t be travel for a long time post-COVID-19, it will come back, eventually. It is almost inevitable that this stock will improve once again. Even if it takes years. That is why this stock would be a long-game play.

You won’t see any returns for this stock in the near future. Many funds, including Berkshire Hathaway, have gotten rid of their Delta stock, along with other airlines. They don’t want to ride out the pandemic and wait until travel regains its strength. However, a great deal still have stock in Delta. This could be a great time for us regular folks to get in on the action.

Large hedge funds may get rid of their stock because they care about their bottom lines and growth for every year. They have investors counting on them to pull through. However, if you’re playing the long game, you could come out a winner. As you can see below, Delta has been a steady force in the airline industry for years prior. The only damage is due to the pandemic of 2020.

Thus, the only thing you have to ask yourself is whether you think the travel industry will recover. This is most likely the lowest it will go since most of the world is in recovery mode from COVID-19. If the pandemic ends, everyone will be fiending for travel again. The Caribbean, Switzerland, wherever the wind blows. However, if new strains arise and the pandemic gets worse, there will be another crash. You are basically betting on the outcome of the pandemic. If it gets better, people will travel. If it gets worse, no one will be able to travel for a long time. So, as long as it doesn’t go out of business, the stock will eventually rise in the years to come (hopefully).

Delta is one of the best stocks to get into if you’re interested in airline stocks. It has some of the happiest employees, which is one of the best markers for whether or not a company will do well. Companies with the happiest workers outdid the S&P 500 every year for the past 12 years. Delta is spot number seven for companies with the happiest employees. It may not mean much to some, but it has a quantified success rate to others.

If you’re choosing to bet on airlines, Delta Air Lines (DAL) is the most optimistic route. However, with the pandemic looking grim, there are no guarantees on when/if there will be returns. An optimistic, bullish investor may say yes to the long game, but you can probably figure out what a bearish one would do.

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