Southwest Airlines
LUV NYSE· Passenger Airlines
Last close · Oct 27, 2026
$43.44
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Southwest Airlines had $28.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 2.1% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +25.4% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 1.5%, up 0.4 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 2 is left after running the business.
- Southwest Airlines made $441M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew −15.1% a year.
- Free cash flow was −$831M in fiscal 2025, −3.0% of revenue.
- Southwest Airlines returned $2.9B to shareholders in fiscal 2025. The diluted share count fell 13.2%.
- Southwest Airlines owes $1.8B more than it holds in cash, about 0.9 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$21.5B
P/E
21.2x
Revenue
$28.1B
Net income
$441M
Free cash flow
−$831M
Operating margin
1.5%
Southwest Airlines in 30 seconds · fiscal 2025
Are sales growing?
+2.1%
Only a little. Sales grew 2.1% last year.
Does it make a profit?
1.6%
A little. It keeps 1.6% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
−3.0%
No. It spent more cash than it brought in.
Is debt under control?
0.9x
Yes. It could repay its debt with 0.9 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
7 / 8
Solid. It passes 7 of 8 health tests.
How is the share priced?
21.2x
One share costs 21.2 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 26.0x.
What Southwest Airlines does
Southwest Airlines is a passenger airline that flies within the United States and to nearby international destinations. As of December 31, 2025, it had 803 Boeing 737 aircraft and served 117 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica and Costa Rica. Unlike most major U.S. airlines, which send passengers through central hub cities, it mainly flies point-to-point, connecting cities directly. Southwest is managed as a single operating segment that carries passengers and cargo. It sells several fare types, from Basic, generally its lowest, to higher-priced Choice Extra. In 2025 it began charging bag fees on most fares, and in January 2026 it began offering assigned and extra legroom seating. Members of its Rapid Rewards loyalty program earn points on the fares they buy.
Biggest risks, in its own words
- Its dependence on Boeing as the only maker of its aircraft, including long delays in deliveries of MAX aircraft.
- Rising costs that wear away the low-cost structure it has relied on to compete.
- Conflict with its employees, most of whom are represented by labor unions.
- Disruptions at one of its core stations, the airports at the center of its network.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 31, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Feb 5, 2026
- Legal name
- SOUTHWEST AIRLINES CO.
- CIK
- 0000092380
Southwest Airlines · LUV
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $15.8B | $23.8B | $26.1B | $27.5B | $28.1B |
| Revenue growth | 74.5% | 50.8% | 9.6% | 5.3% | 2.1% |
| Operating margin | 10.9% | 4.3% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| Net income | $977M | $539M | $465M | $465M | $441M |
| Net margin | 6.2% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| Diluted EPS | $1.61 | $0.87 | $0.76 | $0.76 | $0.79 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $2.3B | $3.8B | $3.2B | $462M | $1.8B |
| Capital expenditure | $505M | $3.9B | $3.5B | $2.1B | $2.7B |
| Free cash flow | $1.8B | −$134M | −$356M | −$1.6B | −$831M |
| FCF margin | 11.5% | −0.6% | −1.4% | −5.8% | −3.0% |
| Dividends paid | $0.0M | $0.0M | $428M | $430M | $399M |
| Share buybacks | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $250M | $2.6B |
| Share count change | 7.8% | 5.4% | −0.3% | 0.5% | −13.2% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $15.5B | $12.3B | $11.5B | $8.7B | $3.2B |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $10.8B | $8.3B | $8.1B | $6.8B | $5.0B |
| Shareholders' equity | $10.4B | $10.7B | $10.5B | $10.4B | $8.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.6x | −1.7x | −1.9x | −1.0x | 0.9x |
| Current ratio | 2.0x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Interest coverage | 5.1x | 3.0x | 0.9x | 1.3x | 2.6x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 21.9% | 12.2% | 2.4% | 3.2% | 3.7% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 5.1% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 4.8% |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
| Altman Z'' | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$0.3M
2 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Southwest Airlines · LUV
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines LUV | $21.5B | 2.1% | 1.5% | −3.0% | 3.7% | 21.2x | 7 |
| American Airlines Group AAL | $8.4B | 0.8% | 2.7% | −1.2% | 5.7% | — | 5 |
| Alaska Air Group ALK | $4.0B | 21.3% | 2.1% | 6.6% | 2.9% | — | 5 |
| United Airlines UAL | $34.3B | 3.5% | 8.0% | 4.3% | 15.3% | 9.6x | 6 |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | $53.7B | 2.8% | 9.2% | 6.1% | 16.0% | 16.3x | 7 |
Price compared with profit (P/E)
How many times its yearly profit per share one share costs. Higher means investors pay more for each unit of profit.
KIRA
At $43.44 a share, the company is worth $21.5B: 21.2 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Southwest Airlines grew sales faster than 1 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 2 of 2.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000092380). Data updated October 22, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.