Benzinga | Oct 14, 2021 03:22PM EDT

Morgan Stanley, Cowen Maintain Ratings On This Airline After Q3 Results

* Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker lowered Delta Air Lines, Inc (NYSE:DAL) price target to $62 (implying an upside of 50%) from $67 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares after the company's Q3 results came in better than expected.

* The stock was impacted by fuel and cost headwind commentary about Q4.

* Shanker, who contends that "taking the pain now for gain later is the right move," noted that Delta management's commentary on holiday season travel, a corporate recovery, and structural cost savings were "strong."

* Cowen analyst Helane Becker raised Delta Air Line's price target to $54 (implying an upside of 31%) from $53 and maintained a Market Perform rating on the shares.

* Becker believes revenue growth won't enable the airline to recover the costs, so margins will continue to be squeezed.

* She says that demand is not the issue; costs are the issue and are expected to increase until the route network reaches pre-pandemic levels.

* Price Action: DAL shares are trading higher by 0.43% at $41.2 on the last check Thursday.