Alaska Air Group vs Southwest Airlines
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The short version
- Southwest Airlines is the larger business, with $28.1B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $14.2B for Alaska Air Group, about 2.0 times as much.
- Alaska Air Group grew revenue faster (21.3%, against 2.1%).
- Alaska Air Group kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (2.1% operating margin, against 1.5%).
- Alaska Air Group turned more of its sales into free cash flow (6.6% FCF margin, against −3.0%).
- Southwest Airlines earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (3.7%, against 2.9%).
| Latest fiscal year | ALK · FY25 | LUV · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $3.8B | $20.6B |
| Revenue | $14.2B | $28.1B |
| Free cash flow | $940M | −$831M |
| Net income | $100M | $441M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 21.3% | 2.1% |
| 5-year growth | 31.9% | 25.4% |
| Share count change | −6.6% | −13.2% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 2.1% | 1.5% |
| Net margin | 0.7% | 1.6% |
| FCF margin | 6.6% | −3.0% |
| Return on capital | 2.9% | 3.7% |
| Return on equity | 2.4% | 4.8% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.4B | $1.8B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.1x | 0.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $570M | $2.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 20.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
ALK $5.9B
LUV $20.4B
FY17
ALK $7.9B
LUV $21.2B
FY18
ALK $8.3B
LUV $22.0B
FY19
ALK $8.8B
LUV $22.4B
FY20
ALK $3.6B
LUV $9.0B
FY21
ALK $6.2B
LUV $15.8B
FY22
ALK $9.6B
LUV $23.8B
FY23
ALK $10.4B
LUV $26.1B
FY24
ALK $11.7B
LUV $27.5B
FY25
ALK $14.2B
LUV $28.1B
ALK
LUV
Operating margin
FY16
ALK 22.0%
LUV 17.2%
FY17
ALK 15.3%
LUV 16.1%
FY18
ALK 7.8%
LUV 14.6%
FY19
ALK 12.1%
LUV 13.2%
FY20
ALK −49.8%
LUV −42.2%
FY21
ALK 11.1%
LUV 10.9%
FY22
ALK 0.7%
LUV 4.3%
FY23
ALK 3.8%
LUV 0.9%
FY24
ALK 4.9%
LUV 1.2%
FY25
ALK 2.1%
LUV 1.5%
ALK
LUV
Free cash flow
FY16
ALK $708M
LUV $2.3B
FY17
ALK $564M
LUV $1.8B
FY18
ALK $235M
LUV $3.0B
FY19
ALK $1.0B
LUV $3.0B
FY20
ALK −$456M
LUV −$1.6B
FY21
ALK $738M
LUV $1.8B
FY22
ALK −$253M
LUV −$134M
FY23
ALK −$444M
LUV −$356M
FY24
ALK $1.2B
LUV −$1.6B
FY25
ALK $940M
LUV −$831M
ALK
LUV
Return on capital
FY16
ALK 26.8%
LUV 30.2%
FY17
ALK 23.4%
LUV 38.1%
FY18
ALK 10.6%
LUV 25.5%
FY19
ALK 18.0%
LUV 25.6%
FY20
ALK −37.7%
LUV −42.0%
FY21
ALK 16.4%
LUV 21.9%
FY22
ALK 1.5%
LUV 12.2%
FY23
ALK 6.8%
LUV 2.4%
FY24
ALK 7.1%
LUV 3.2%
FY25
ALK 2.9%
LUV 3.7%
ALK
LUV
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.