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Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) operates as a passenger airline company that provides scheduled air transportation services in the United States and near-international markets. The company is currently valued at a market cap of $14.2 billion.
The airline giant is set to announce its Q1 results before the market opens on Thursday, Apr. 24. Ahead of the event, analysts expect LUV to report a loss of $0.18 per share, down 50% from the year-ago quarter's loss of $0.36 per share. Furthermore, the company has surpassed analysts' consensus estimates in three of the last four quarters, while missing in only one quarter. In the previous quarter, it reported EPS of $0.56, which surpassed the consensus estimate by 24.4%, driven by higher travel demand.
For the current year 2025, analysts expect LUV to report EPS of $1.65, up 71.9% from $0.96 in fiscal 2024. Looking ahead, analysts expect its earnings to surge 73.9% year-over-year to $2.87 per share in fiscal 2026.
Over the past year, LUV shares have declined 1.7%, underperforming the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 4.7% rally and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund’s (XLI) 1.3% surge over the same time frame.
LUV shares closed up more than 14% on Apr. 8, along with other beaten-down travel and leisure stocks, owing to a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs to 56 countries announced by President Trump on the same day. Stocks have been under pressure over the past month due to fears that US tariffs will weaken economic growth and corporate earnings. However, this pause could act as a well-needed breath of fresh air for the stock market to recover from its early losses and return value to its shareholders.
However, analysts remain skeptical about LUV stock’s future prospects, with a "Hold" rating overall. Among 21 analysts covering the stock, opinions include five "Strong Buys," one "Moderate Buy,” eight "Holds," two “Moderate Sells,” and five “Strong Sells.” LUV's mean price of $32.58 implies a premium of 14.1% from its prevailing price level.
On the date of publication, Kritika Sarmah did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
