Delta Air Lines
DAL · Passenger Airlines
$76.78
3.1%Southwest Airlines
LUV · Passenger Airlines
$41.75
0.7%The short version
- Delta Air Lines is the larger business, with $63.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $28.1B for Southwest Airlines, about 2.3 times as much.
- Delta Air Lines grew revenue faster (2.8%, against 2.1%).
- Delta Air Lines kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (9.2% operating margin, against 1.5% operating margin).
- Delta Air Lines turned more of its sales into free cash flow (6.1% FCF margin, against −3.0% FCF margin).
- Delta Air Lines earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.0%, against 3.7%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Southwest Airlines’s earnings: a P/E of 20.4x against 15.3x for Delta Air Lines.
| Latest fiscal year | DAL · FY25 | LUV · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $50.6B | $20.6B |
| Revenue | $63.4B | $28.1B |
| Free cash flow | $3.8B | −$831M |
| Net income | $5.0B | $441M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 2.1% |
| 5-year growth | 30.0% | 25.4% |
| Share count change | 0.9% | −13.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 9.2% | 1.5% |
| Net margin | 7.9% | 1.6% |
| FCF margin | 6.1% | −3.0% |
| Return on capital | 16.0% | 3.7% |
| Return on equity | 27.7% | 4.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $9.8B | $1.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.2x | 0.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $440M | $2.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 15.3x | 20.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 7 |
FY16
DAL $39.6B
LUV $20.4B
FY17
DAL $41.2B
LUV $21.2B
FY18
DAL $44.4B
LUV $22.0B
FY19
DAL $47.0B
LUV $22.4B
FY20
DAL $17.1B
LUV $9.0B
FY21
DAL $29.9B
LUV $15.8B
FY22
DAL $50.6B
LUV $23.8B
FY23
DAL $58.0B
LUV $26.1B
FY24
DAL $61.6B
LUV $27.5B
FY25
DAL $63.4B
LUV $28.1B
DAL
LUV
FY16
DAL 17.7%
LUV 17.2%
FY17
DAL 14.5%
LUV 16.1%
FY18
DAL 11.9%
LUV 14.6%
FY19
DAL 14.1%
LUV 13.2%
FY20
DAL −72.9%
LUV −42.2%
FY21
DAL 6.3%
LUV 10.9%
FY22
DAL 7.2%
LUV 4.3%
FY23
DAL 9.5%
LUV 0.9%
FY24
DAL 9.7%
LUV 1.2%
FY25
DAL 9.2%
LUV 1.5%
DAL
LUV
FY16
DAL $3.8B
LUV $2.3B
FY17
DAL $1.1B
LUV $1.8B
FY18
DAL $1.8B
LUV $3.0B
FY19
DAL $3.5B
LUV $3.0B
FY20
DAL −$5.7B
LUV −$1.6B
FY21
DAL $17.0M
LUV $1.8B
FY22
DAL −$3.0M
LUV −$134M
FY23
DAL $1.1B
LUV −$356M
FY24
DAL $2.9B
LUV −$1.6B
FY25
DAL $3.8B
LUV −$831M
DAL
LUV
FY16
DAL —
LUV 30.2%
FY17
DAL 20.8%
LUV 38.1%
FY18
DAL 20.1%
LUV 25.5%
FY19
DAL 22.5%
LUV 25.6%
FY20
DAL −49.0%
LUV −42.0%
FY21
DAL 7.4%
LUV 21.9%
FY22
DAL 11.9%
LUV 12.2%
FY23
DAL 18.0%
LUV 2.4%
FY24
DAL 16.0%
LUV 3.2%
FY25
DAL 16.0%
LUV 3.7%
DAL
LUV
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