Southwest Airlines (LUV) Beats On Q4 Earnings

Southwest Airlines Company (NYSE:LUV) reported fourth-quarter 2017 earnings per share (excluding $2.41 from non-recurring items) of 77 cents, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 76 cents. Earnings increased 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.

How Was the Estimate Revision Trend?

Investors should note that the earnings estimate revisions for Southwest Airlines depicted a gloomy picture prior to the earnings release. The stock had seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings being revised 10.6% over the last 30 days.

However, the company has an impressive earnings history having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters with an average beat of 2.5%.

Revenues Higher Than Expected

Southwest Airlines recorded revenues of $5,274 million, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,242.1 million. Also, it compared favorably with the year-ago number of $5,076 million.

Southwest Airlines Company Price and EPS Surprise

Southwest Airlines Company Price and EPS Surprise | Southwest Airlines Company Quote

Key Stats to Note: The airline witnessed a 0.5% rise in consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM: a key measure of unit revenue) in the quarter. For the first quarter of 2018, the carrier expects revenue per available seat mile (RASM) to rise between 1% and 2%. First-quarter unit costs, excluding fuel and oil expense, profit-sharing expense, and special items is estimated to increase in the band of 0.5-1.5%. While economic fuel costs for the first quarter is predicted to be in the range of $2.10-$2.15 per gallon.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Southwest Airlines has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) but that could change following the company’s earnings report which was just released. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Stock Price: The earnings and revenues beat pleased the investors. Consequently shares of the company were up in early trading at the time of writing.

Check back later for our full write up on this Southwest Airlines earnings report later!

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