Southwest Airlines Co
LUV
Get informed when a big investor buys or sells
+ FollowMarket Cap$20.44B
Close$
Earnings Call Q3 2026
October 22, 2026 - AI Summary
Q3 performance strong; margin durability despite fuel headwind (good/surprising)
- Adjusted operating margin: 5.4%, up +4.8 pts YoY.
- Despite $820M YoY headwind from higher fuel prices, they still delivered.
- Operating revenue: $8.4B (record Q3).
- Adjusted EPS: $0.66 (up +5% YoY), above guidance midpoint, despite a less favorable fuel environment than expected on the prior call.
- RASM: +21.6% YoY, an all-time record and above the top end of their 17.5%–19.5% guidance range.
Outlook: Q4 strong; still beating on RASM expectations (good)
- Q4 RASM forecast: +19% to +21% YoY, also reflecting the usual lapping of bag fees/other initiatives.
- Demand described as healthy and broad-based; ~65% of Q4 revenue already booked.
- Q4 profitability/cost expectation:
- CASM-X: +4.0% to +4.5% YoY with capacity +3% to +4%.
- Adjusted EPS (Q4): $0.55 to $0.80 (using avg fuel price ~ $4.55/gal based on forward curve as of Oct 15).
Costs and liquidity/financing: disciplined cost control; strong balance sheet (good/low risk)
- Q3 CASM-X: up +3.8% YoY with capacity down -0.4% within July guidance.
- Liquidity: $5.6B end of quarter; gross leverage 1.9x (within their 1.0–2.5x target band).
- Financing: entered new $2B revolving credit facility (matures 2031) replacing $1.5B.
Exclusive for Stockcircle Pro members
Sign up
$-4.71
111.3% downside
Current Fair Value
111.3% downsideOvervalued by 111.3% based on the discounted cash flow analysis.
Share Statistics
| Market cap | $20.44 Billion |
|---|---|
| Enterprise Value | $30.77 Billion |
| Dividend Yield | $0.72 (1.72%) |
| Earnings per Share | $0.82 |
| Beta | 1.16 |
| Outstanding Shares | 489,000,000 |
Return
| Return on Equity | 14.37% |
|---|---|
| Return on Assets | 3.45% |
| Return on Invested Capital | 8.74% |
Valuation & Multiples
| P/E Ratio | 19.79 |
|---|---|
| PEG | 4.95 |
| Price to Sales | 0.65 |
| Price to Book Ratio | 2.98 |
| Enterprise Value to Revenue | 0.98 |
| Enterprise Value to EBIT | 20.96 |
| Enterprise Value to Net Income | 29 |
| Total Debt to Enterprise | 0.45 |
| Debt to Equity | 1.9 |
Revenue Sources
No data
Insider Trades
Last Earnings Call
Report Date
October 21, 2026
EPS Estimate
$0.57
Average shareholder expectationRevenue Estimate
$8.25 B
Average shareholder expectationNext Earnings Call
Expected Date
October 28, 2026
EPS Estimate
$0.77
Average shareholder expectationRevenue Estimate
$8.23 B
Average shareholder expectationInstitutional Put/Call Ratio
Market sentiment based on institutional option activity.
| Put/Call Ratio | 0.0000▼ 75.43% |
|---|---|
| Total Calls | -▼ 100.00% |
| Total Puts | -▼ 100.00% |
Institutional Ownership
Holdings and activity of institutional investors.
| Ownership % | 0.57%▼ 92.07% |
|---|---|
| Total Invested | $118.13M▼ 99.50% |
| Investors Holding | 104▼ 884.00% |
ESG Score
No data
About Southwest Airlines Co
72,790 employees
CEO: Gary Kelly In its 50th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines Co. continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service to a Customer base topping 130 million passengers in 2019. Southwest became the na...