LUV NYSE Passenger Airlines Financials FY2016βFY2025
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.
Hi! I read Southwest Airlinesβs latest annual report (fiscal 2025). Here is what stands out:
Good So-so Weak
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?
β3.0%
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?
20.4x
One share costs 20.4 times its yearly profit per share. Typical for its sector: 26.0x.
Rules of thumb on reported numbers. A starting point, not a recommendation.
Is it selling more, and how much does it keep?
In plain words: Every quarter, companies publish how much they sold and earned. These are the days Southwest Airlines did it, and the next one. Share prices often move a lot on those days.
Next results
January 27, 2027
Wednesday Β· in 94 days
Estimated from the same quarter last year. It will be replaced by the announced date once there is one.
| Date | Results for | Time | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2026 | Q3 '26 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Jul 22, 2026 | Q2 '26 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Apr 22, 2026 | Q1 '26 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Jan 28, 2026 | Q4 '25 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Oct 22, 2025 | Q3 '25 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Jul 23, 2025 | Q2 '25 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Apr 23, 2025 | Q1 '25 | After the market closes | 8-K β |
| Jan 30, 2025 | Q4 '24 | Before the market opens | 8-K β |
From SEC filings: the results press release (8-K) or, without one, the quarterly or annual report.
KIRA Β· 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 0.4Β pts: of every 100 in sales, about 2 is left after running the business.
In plain words: Revenue is all the money customers paid. The margins show how many cents of each dollar of sales are left over at each step: after making the product (gross), after running the business (operating) and after everything, tax included (net).
KIRA Β· Southwest Airlines made $441M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew β15.1% a year.
Loss periods are shown in red.
In plain words: Net income is the profit left after every cost and tax. Earnings per share (EPS) splits that profit across every share, so it shows what one share earned.
How much cash comes in, and where does it go?
KIRA Β· Free cash flow was β$831M in fiscal 2025, β3.0% of revenue.
Cash from operations minus capital spending.
In plain words: Profit on paper is not the same as cash in the bank. Free cash flow is the cash left after paying to run and maintain the business: the money it can hand back to shareholders, save or invest.
KIRA Β· Southwest Airlines returned $2.9B to shareholders in fiscal 2025. The diluted share count fell 13.2%.
In plain words: Companies hand cash back in two ways: dividends (cash paid to shareholders) and buybacks (buying back their own shares, so each remaining share owns a bigger slice).
KIRA Β· In the last 12 months, insiders sold $0.3M of shares on the open market and bought none.
Open-market purchases and sales by officers, directors and 10% owners, from Form 4 filings. βPlanβ marks trades under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.
In plain words: Insiders are the people who run or own a big part of the company. Buying with their own money can signal confidence; selling often has personal reasons, like taxes or diversifying.
Bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Sold, 12 months
$0.3M
2 insiders
Of sales under plans
0%
$0.0M
Can it carry its debts, and how well does it use its money?
KIRA Β· Southwest Airlines owes $1.8B more than it holds in cash, about 0.9 years of operating profit.
Cash, debt and the ratios that show how comfortably Southwest Airlines can carry it.
In plain words: What the company owns and what it owes. More cash than debt is a cushion for bad times; a lot of debt leaves less room when business slows down.
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | β1.6x | β1.7x | β1.9x | β1.0x | 0.9x |
| Debt / equity | 1.0x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.7x | 0.6x |
| Interest coverage | 5.1x | 3.0x | 0.9x | 1.3x | 2.6x |
| Current ratio | 2.0x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Quick ratio | 2.0x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Total assets | $36.3B | $35.4B | $36.5B | $33.8B | $29.1B |
| Total liabilities | $25.9B | $24.7B | $26.0B | $23.4B | $21.1B |
| Shareholders' equity | $10.4B | $10.7B | $10.5B | $10.4B | $8.0B |
| Net debt (β = net cash) | β$4.7B | β$4.0B | β$3.4B | β$1.9B | $1.8B |
KIRA Β· Its return on capital was 3.7%: every 100 invested in the business earned about 4 in a year.
After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
In plain words: How much profit the business makes on the money put into it. A higher percentage means each dollar invested works harder.
KIRA Β· Southwest Airlines passes 7 of 8 financial health tests (Piotroski F-score).
Nine pass/fail tests of profitability, funding and efficiency. 8β9 is strong, 0β2 weak.
In plain words: Nine yes/no tests of financial health, one point each. A green tick is a pass: 7 to 9 points is solid, 0 to 3 is weak.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations is positive | β | β | β |
| Return on assets rose | β | β | β |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | β | β | β |
| Debt fell relative to assets | β | β | β |
| Current ratio rose | β | β | β |
| Share count didn't rise | β | β | β |
| Gross margin rose | β | β | β |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | β | β | β |
| F-score | 6 / 8 | 4 / 8 | 7 / 8 |
| Accruals ratio | β7.5% | 0.0% | β4.5% |
| Altman Z'' | 2.23 | 1.91 | 1.14 |
What does the share cost, and how does it compare?
KIRA Β· At $41.75 a share, the company is worth $20.6B: 20.4 times its earnings of the last four quarters.
Change the assumptions and see what they imply per share. These are models, not forecasts or price targets β the answer depends entirely on what you put in.
In plain words: Move the sliders to try your own guesses about growth. The result is what one share would be worth if those guesses came true. Different guesses give very different answers.
Value per share
β
Adds net cash of β$1.8B and divides by 558.0M diluted shares. Ten years of cash flows plus a terminal value, discounted to today.
Value per share
β
Reference multiples: today 20.4x Β· peers 12.1x Β· sector 26.0x.
KIRA Β· Southwest Airlines grew sales faster than 1 of its 4 similar companies. Its P/E is higher than 2 of 2.
Each companyβs latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods donβt line up exactly.
In plain words: The same numbers for similar companies, so you can tell whether a figure is high or low for this kind of business.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines LUV | $20.6B | 2.1% | 1.5% | β3.0% | 3.7% | 20.4x | 7 | |
| American Airlines Group AAL | $8.0B | 0.8% | 2.7% | β1.2% | 5.7% | β | 5 | Compare β |
| Alaska Air Group ALK | $3.8B | 21.3% | 2.1% | 6.6% | 2.9% | β | 5 | Compare β |
| United Airlines UAL | $32.1B | 3.5% | 8.0% | 4.3% | 15.3% | 9.0x | 6 | Compare β |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | $50.6B | 2.8% | 9.2% | 6.1% | 16.0% | 15.3x | 7 | Compare β |
Every number, year by year.
Amounts in USD. Hover a ratioβs name for its definition.
In plain words: Every number we have, year by year. Download it as a spreadsheet if you want to dig deeper.
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | $20.4B | $21.2B | $22.0B | $22.4B | $9.0B | $15.8B | $23.8B | $26.1B | $27.5B | $28.1B |
| Operating income | $3.5B | $3.4B | $3.2B | $3.0B | β$3.8B | $1.7B | $1.0B | $224M | $321M | $428M |
| Interest expense | $122M | $114M | $131M | $118M | $212M | $336M | $340M | $259M | $249M | $167M |
| Pretax income | $3.5B | $3.3B | $3.2B | $3.0B | β$4.3B | $1.3B | $728M | $633M | $598M | $563M |
| Income tax | $1.3B | β$92.0M | $699M | $657M | β$1.2B | $348M | $189M | $168M | $133M | $122M |
| Net income | $2.2B | $3.4B | $2.5B | $2.3B | β$3.1B | $977M | $539M | $465M | $465M | $441M |
| Diluted EPS | $3.45 | $5.57 | $4.29 | $4.27 | β$5.44 | $1.61 | $0.87 | $0.76 | $0.76 | $0.79 |
| Diluted shares | 0.63B | 0.60B | 0.57B | 0.54B | 0.57B | 0.61B | 0.64B | 0.64B | 0.64B | 0.56B |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | $4.3B | $3.9B | $4.9B | $4.0B | β$1.1B | $2.3B | $3.8B | $3.2B | $462M | $1.8B |
| Capital expenditure | $2.0B | $2.1B | $1.9B | $1.0B | $515M | $505M | $3.9B | $3.5B | $2.1B | $2.7B |
| Free cash flow | $2.3B | $1.8B | $3.0B | $3.0B | β$1.6B | $1.8B | β$134M | β$356M | β$1.6B | β$831M |
| Depreciation and amortization | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.4B | $1.5B | $1.7B | $1.6B |
| Stock-based compensation | $33.0M | $37.0M | $46.0M | $55.0M | $17.0M | $58.0M | $84.0M | $86.0M | $45.0M | $99.0M |
| Acquisitions | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Share buybacks | $1.8B | $1.6B | $2.0B | $2.0B | $451M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $250M | $2.6B |
| Dividends paid | $222M | $274M | $332M | $372M | $188M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $428M | $430M | $399M |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.0B | $1.9B | $2.3B | $2.4B | $639M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $428M | $680M | $2.9B |
| Balance sheet | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $3.3B | $3.3B | $3.7B | $4.1B | $13.3B | $15.5B | $12.3B | $11.5B | $8.7B | $3.2B |
| Total debt | $3.4B | $3.7B | $3.4B | $2.7B | $10.4B | $10.8B | $8.1B | $8.0B | $6.7B | $4.9B |
| Finance lease liabilities | $0.0M | $0.0M | $845M | $627M | $542M | $459M | $189M | $104M | $91.0M | $78.0M |
| Current assets | $4.5B | $4.8B | $5.0B | $6.0B | $15.2B | $18.0B | $14.8B | $14.0B | $11.3B | $5.6B |
| Current liabilities | $6.8B | $6.9B | $7.9B | $9.0B | $7.5B | $9.2B | $10.4B | $12.3B | $12.3B | $10.9B |
| Inventory | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Property and equipment, net | $17.0B | $18.5B | $19.5B | $17.0B | $15.8B | $14.8B | $17.3B | $19.4B | $19.1B | $20.2B |
| Total assets | $23.3B | $25.1B | $26.2B | $25.9B | $34.6B | $36.3B | $35.4B | $36.5B | $33.8B | $29.1B |
| Total liabilities | $15.5B | $15.5B | $16.4B | $16.1B | $25.7B | $25.9B | $24.7B | $26.0B | $23.4B | $21.1B |
| Shareholders' equity | $7.8B | $9.6B | $9.9B | $9.8B | $8.9B | $10.4B | $10.7B | $10.5B | $10.4B | $8.0B |
| Margins | ||||||||||
| Operating margin | 17.2% | 16.1% | 14.6% | 13.2% | β42.2% | 10.9% | 4.3% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| EBITDA margin | 23.2% | 21.9% | 20.1% | 18.6% | β28.3% | 19.0% | 9.9% | 6.7% | 7.2% | 7.1% |
| Net margin | 10.7% | 15.9% | 11.2% | 10.3% | β34.0% | 6.2% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
| FCF margin | 11.0% | 8.5% | 13.5% | 13.2% | β18.2% | 11.5% | β0.6% | β1.4% | β5.8% | β3.0% |
| Returns | ||||||||||
| Return on capital | 30.2% | 38.1% | 25.5% | 25.6% | β42.0% | 21.9% | 12.2% | 2.4% | 3.2% | 3.7% |
| Return on capital employed | 23.2% | 19.6% | 17.5% | 16.8% | β17.3% | 6.4% | 3.9% | 0.9% | 1.4% | 2.2% |
| Return on equity | 30.0% | 38.5% | 25.3% | 23.4% | β32.9% | 10.1% | 5.1% | 4.4% | 4.5% | 4.8% |
| Return on assets | 9.8% | 13.9% | 9.6% | 8.8% | β10.2% | 2.8% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.4% |
| Growth | ||||||||||
| Revenue growth | 3.1% | 3.7% | 3.8% | 2.1% | β59.7% | 74.5% | 50.8% | 9.6% | 5.3% | 2.1% |
| Net income growth | 0.1% | 53.8% | β26.6% | β6.7% | β233.7% | β | β44.8% | β13.7% | 0.0% | β5.2% |
| EPS growth | 5.5% | 61.5% | β23.0% | β0.5% | β227.4% | β | β46.0% | β12.6% | 0.0% | 4.0% |
| FCF growth | 88.4% | β19.9% | 64.5% | β0.4% | β155.5% | β | β107.4% | β | β | β |
| Share count change | β5.4% | β4.7% | β4.8% | β6.1% | 4.8% | 7.8% | 5.4% | β0.3% | 0.5% | β13.2% |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.0x | 0.1x | β0.1x | β0.3x | β | β1.6x | β1.7x | β1.9x | β1.0x | 0.9x |
| Debt / equity | 0.4x | 0.4x | 0.3x | 0.3x | 1.2x | 1.0x | 0.8x | 0.8x | 0.7x | 0.6x |
| Interest coverage | 28.9x | 29.9x | 24.5x | 25.1x | β18.0x | 5.1x | 3.0x | 0.9x | 1.3x | 2.6x |
| Current ratio | 0.7x | 0.7x | 0.6x | 0.7x | 2.0x | 2.0x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Quick ratio | 0.7x | 0.7x | 0.6x | 0.7x | 2.0x | 2.0x | 1.4x | 1.1x | 0.9x | 0.5x |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Capex / revenue | 10.0% | 10.0% | 8.8% | 4.6% | 5.7% | 3.2% | 16.5% | 13.5% | 7.5% | 9.5% |
| Stock comp / revenue | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% |
| Payouts / FCF | 87.5% | 103.8% | 78.5% | 80.1% | β | 0.0% | β | β | β | β |
| Quality scores | ||||||||||
| Piotroski F-score | 6.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 |
| Altman Z'' | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 2.2 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Accruals ratio | β9.5% | β2.4% | β9.5% | β6.5% | β6.4% | β3.8% | β9.1% | β7.5% | 0.0% | β4.5% |
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000092380). Data updated October 22, 2026. Quarterly fourth quarters are the full year minus the first nine months. For information only β not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.
