Southwest reports lower-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, declines to offer full-year profit update
Southwest Airlines reported its first-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Its shares fell more than 6% in after-hours trading.
For the first quarter, Southwest reported:
Adjusted earnings of $0.45 per share, compared to the $0.47 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by Factset.
Revenue of $7.25 billion, compared to estimates of $7.27 billion.
The carrier guided for adjusted earnings of between $0.35 and $0.65 per share for its second quarter, a range whose midpoint is below analyst estimates of $0.53 per share. Regarding its full-year 2026 earnings estimate of “at least” $4 per share, Southwest declined to give an update “given the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.”
“Achieving this outcome would require lower fuel prices and/or stronger revenue performance to offset higher fuel expense,” Southwest said.
Southwest introduced bag fees last year, ending a more than five-decade-long “bags fly free” policy. Earlier this month, less than a year after the change, it joined its major US rivals in hiking its bag fees by $10 amid surging jet fuel prices.
Southwest, which discontinued its fuel-hedging program last year, said it spent $1.36 billion on fuel and related taxes in the first quarter, up 8.6% year over year.
