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US low-cost airline operating an all-Boeing-737 fleet with point-to-point routes, recently adding assigned seating and bag fees.
US low-cost airline operating an all-Boeing-737 fleet with point-to-point routes, recently adding assigned seating and bag fees.
Is paid mainly by fares, with a rising share from fees and from the co-branded credit card, where Chase buys Rapid Rewards points in bulk to pay out to its cardholders. For decades bags flew free and seats were unassigned; in 2025 it ended free checked bags and moved to assigned and premium seating, after pressure from activist investor Elliott.
Moat: narrow (cost advantage, brand, scale). Single-fleet-type simplicity and strong brand loyalty support lower costs versus legacy carriers.
Headquarters: Dallas, Texas, US · Founded: 1967 · Employees: 72,790
Size Southwest Airlines (LUV) is a United States Industrials company (Airlines) with a market value of $21.8B, the 470th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $44.45 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 8.1%, against +9.1% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 10th lowest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 14.5% over the last twelve months (peer median +11.6%); the operating margin is 5.4% (peer median 7.4%).
Valuation It trades at 13.7× forward earnings against a peer median of 13.4× (7th most expensive of 16).
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.1 points above its cost of capital (9.7% WACC).
Credit Southwest Airlines has 9 bonds outstanding ($5.68B), rated BBB by the agencies and trading like BBB at a weighted spread of 110 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 4.8% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 27 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $31.5B | $28.1B | $27.5B | $26.1B | $23.8B |
| Revenue growth | — | +2% | +5% | +10% | — |
| Gross profit | $5.91B | $5.18B | $4.68B | $4.22B | $4.03B |
| EBITDA | $3.27B | $2.37B | $2.21B | $1.75B | $1.65B |
| Net income | $1.05B | $442M | $485M | $465M | $539M |
| Free cash flow | -$558M | -$831M | -$1.62B | -$389M | -$156M |
| Capital expenditure | $3.31B | $2.67B | $2.08B | $3.55B | $3.95B |
| Total debt | $6.87B | $5.98B | $8.06B | $9.20B | $9.43B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines LUV | $21.8B | +8% | +14% | 5% | 13.7× | n/a |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | $57.4B | +19% | +14% | 7% | 13.4× | 9.9% |
| United Airlines UAL | $36.6B | +13% | +12% | 6% | 13.6× | 7.8% |
| American Airlines AAL | $8.73B | -1% | +12% | 2% | n/a | n/a |
| JetBlue Airways JBLU | $1.38B | -28% | +10% | -6% | n/a | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | LUV | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +7.5% | +5.3% | 7th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +8.1% | +9.1% | 10th lowest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -18.6% | -16.4% | 10th lowest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +14.5% | +11.6% | 5th highest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 5.4% | 7.4% | 8th lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 13.7× | 13.4× | 7th most expensive of 16 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.1 pp | +1.9 pp | 10th highest of 21 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.6× | 6.7× | 8th most expensive of 18 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.0× | 1.8× | 7th least indebted of 19 |
| Bond spread | 110 bp | 115 bp | 4th tightest of 7 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Airlines LUV | United States | $21.8B | +8% | +14% | 5% | 13.7× | n/a | n/a |
| InterGlobe Aviation INDIGO.NS | India | $22.4B | +22% | +13% | 8% | 105.8× | 25.5% | +42.2% |
| International Consolidated Airlines IAG.L | United Kingdom | $25.3B | +9% | +4% | 14% | 8.3× | -3.9% | +32.4% |
| Singapore Airlines C6L.SI | Singapore | $17.2B | +11% | +5% | 12% | 30.1× | -11.0% | +40.0% |
| Ryanair Holdings PLC Sponsored ADR RYAAY | United States | $29.5B | +2% | +9% | 13% | 17.0× | 6.4% | +56.7% |
| Air China 0753.HK | Hong Kong | $15.4B | -27% | +11% | -4% | n/a | 11.7% | +18.9% |
| LATAM Airlines Group SA Sponsored ADR LTM | United States | $13.8B | -7% | +21% | 14% | 7.0× | -7.2% | +29.3% |
| United Airlines UAL | United States | $36.6B | +13% | +12% | 6% | 13.6× | 7.8% | +30.9% |
| China Southern Airlines 1055.HK | Hong Kong | $12.3B | -32% | +12% | 0% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Cathay Pacific Airways 0293.HK | Hong Kong | $11.7B | +19% | +20% | 11% | 8.1× | -12.4% | +20.0% |
| Deutsche Lufthansa LHA.DE | Germany | $11.4B | +7% | +8% | -1% | 9.7× | n/a | n/a |
| China Eastern Airlines 0670.HK | Hong Kong | $10.8B | -40% | +13% | -4% | n/a | 18.6% | +18.1% |
| Qantas Airways QAN.AX | Australia | $9.79B | +9% | +8% | 7% | 10.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Ana 9202.T | Japan | $9.77B | +24% | +17% | 8% | 13.1× | -10.0% | +28.4% |
| Japan Airlines 9201.T | Japan | $9.08B | +34% | +10% | 8% | 15.3× | -9.7% | +33.1% |
| American Airlines AAL | United States | $8.73B | -1% | +12% | 2% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Delta Air Lines DAL | United States | $57.4B | +19% | +14% | 7% | 13.4× | 9.9% | +30.0% |
| KAL 003490.KS | South Korea | $7.99B | +20% | +21% | 2% | 21.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Hainan Airlines 600221.SS | China | $7.85B | -20% | +6% | -3% | 24.2× | 5.0% | +18.4% |
| Air China Cargo 001391.SZ | China | $7.12B | -21% | +10% | 9% | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Eva Airways 2618.TW | Taiwan | $7.12B | +28% | +6% | 14% | 10.1× | -17.0% | +19.9% |
Southwest Airlines has 9 bonds outstanding with $5.68B face value. The agencies rate it BBB; its bonds trade like BBB. Weighted yield 5.67%, a spread of 110 bp over government bonds.