Delta Air Lines (DAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026)
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] of 10.82% for Q3 2026, down 3.17 percentage points from 14.00% a year earlier and down 1.00 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Delta Air Lines (DAL) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2010 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025, Delta Air Lines posted Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] of 13.73%, unchanged from FY2024.
- Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has a five-year change of +47.28 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- By year, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] came in at 13.72% in FY2024 (-0.69 pp), 14.41% in FY2023 (+6.36 pp), 8.05% in FY2022 (+3.89 pp) and 4.17% in FY2021 (+37.73 pp).
- The Q3 2026 figure ranks as the lowest quarterly Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] since Q1 2023.
- Year over year, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] has now declined in each of the last nine quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -1.47 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The high point for year-over-year Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] in five years was Q1 2022 (a gain of 39.94 percentage points); the low point was Q3 2026 (a drop of 3.17 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, the three quarters before Q3 2026 came in at 11.82% (Q2 2026), 12.72% (Q1 2026) and 13.30% (Q4 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Union Pacific | 172.47 Bn | 164.72 Bn | - | 15.71% |
| 2 | United Parcel Service | 92.24 Bn | 69.07 Bn | - | 12.25% |
| 3 | Csx | 90.81 Bn | 86.03 Bn | - | 12.59% |
| 4 | Canadian Pacific Kansas City | 81.61 Bn | 80.64 Bn | - | 5.96% |
| 5 | Fedex | 72.98 Bn | 39.17 Bn | - | 7.49% |
| 6 | Norfolk Southern | 71.87 Bn | 66.34 Bn | - | 9.67% |
| 7 | Delta Air Lines | 57.23 Bn | 39.41 Bn | - | 10.82% |
| 8 | United Airlines Holdings | 36.65 Bn | -21.05 Bn | - | 8.90% |
| 9 | Old Dominion Freight Line | 34.12 Bn | 32.96 Bn | - | 25.01% |
| 10 | Ryanair Holdings | 31.32 Bn | 15.58 Bn | - | 14.81% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 10.82% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 11.82% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 12.72% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 13.30% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 14.00% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 13.91% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 13.81% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 13.68% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 14.22% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 15.47% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 16.13% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 14.61% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 14.62% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 13.44% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 10.09% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 8.46% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 1.72% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 6.66% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 5.88% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 4.17% |
API Access
Delta Air Lines Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=DAL&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-invested-capital-[roic]", "ticker": "DAL", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=DAL&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();