Carnival vs Delta Air Lines
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Carnival and Delta Air Lines side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Delta Air Lines is the larger business, with $63.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $26.6B for Carnival, about 2.4 times as much.
- Carnival grew revenue faster (6.4%, against 2.8%).
- Carnival kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (16.8% operating margin, against 9.2%).
- Carnival turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.8% FCF margin, against 6.1%).
- Delta Air Lines earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.0%, against 12.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Delta Air Lines’s earnings: a P/E of 16.3x against 12.1x for Carnival.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Carnival
CCL
6/10
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginShare count change
Delta Air Lines
DAL
3/10
Return on capitalReturn on equityNet debt / EBITDA
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | CCL FY25 | DAL FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $37.9B | $53.7B |
| Revenue | $26.6B | $63.4B |
| Free cash flow | $2.6B | $3.8B |
| Net income | $2.8B | $5.0B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.4% | 2.8% |
| 5-year growth | 36.6% | 30.0% |
| Share count change | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 16.8% | 9.2% |
| Net margin | 10.4% | 7.9% |
| FCF margin | 9.8% | 6.1% |
| Return on capital | 12.1% | 16.0% |
| Return on equity | 25.6% | 27.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $25.5B | $9.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.5x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $0.0M | $440M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 12.1x | 16.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.