Q4 EPS Estimate for Southwest Airlines Boosted by Analyst

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Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV - Free Report) - Stock analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for Southwest Airlines in a report issued on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the airline will earn $0.68 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $0.58. The consensus estimate for Southwest Airlines' current full-year earnings is $1.55 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Southwest Airlines' Q2 2026 earnings at $0.86 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.13 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $0.86 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.05 EPS.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The airline reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter. Southwest Airlines had a net margin of 1.38% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter.

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LUV has been the subject of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Southwest Airlines from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 25th. HSBC cut Southwest Airlines from a "hold" rating to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Southwest Airlines in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Southwest Airlines from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $33.38.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on LUV

Southwest Airlines Stock Down 0.2%

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LUV opened at $31.55 on Friday. Southwest Airlines has a 12 month low of $23.82 and a 12 month high of $37.96. The company has a market cap of $16.32 billion, a PE ratio of 48.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.12 and a 200 day moving average of $32.00.

Institutional Trading of Southwest Airlines

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LUV. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Southwest Airlines by 2,403.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 10,120,368 shares of the airline's stock worth $328,305,000 after acquiring an additional 9,716,160 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $56,244,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Southwest Airlines in the first quarter worth $50,433,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Southwest Airlines by 13.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 12,218,086 shares of the airline's stock valued at $389,879,000 after buying an additional 1,459,235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Southwest Airlines in the second quarter worth about $41,663,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.82% of the company's stock.

Southwest Airlines announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, July 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the airline to buy up to 9.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Southwest Airlines Company Profile

Southwest Airlines Co operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. As of December 31, 2023, the company operated a total fleet of 817 Boeing 737 aircraft; and served 121 destinations in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, as well as ten near-international countries, including Mexico, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Aruba, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Belize, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos.

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