DALLAS - Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) reported its first-quarter results, which came in below analysts' expectations, and the company's shares dropped by 4.9% in after-hours trading as investors reacted to the miss and cautious guidance for the second quarter.

The airline dropped its adjusted earnings per share at $0.45, missing the consensus forecast from analysts of $0.47 by $0.02. Revenue hit $7.2 billion, falling short of the estimate of $7.27 billion, although it did grow by 12.8% year-over-year. Despite higher fuel costs creating a negative impact of $0.22 on earnings per share, the company achieved an operating margin of 4.6%, marking an improvement of 8.1 percentage points year-over-year.

For the second quarter, Southwest has forecast adjusted earnings per share in the range of $0.35 to $0.65. The midpoint of $0.50 reflects ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and significantly higher fuel costs, with the company expecting fuel costs to be between $4.10 and $4.15 per gallon. The airline maintained its full-year adjusted earnings per share forecast at $4.00 but noted that achieving this will require either lower fuel prices or stronger revenue performance to offset elevated fuel costs.

"The first quarter of 2026 was a turning point for Southwest, as our broad set of commercial, operational, and cost initiatives is now transforming into excellent results," said Bob Jordan, President and CEO. "Demand for our new product offerings drove record revenues in the first quarter, double-digit year-over-year revenue growth, and significant improvements in profit and margins."

The company reported record passenger revenues of $6.6 billion in the first quarter, which is 13.4% higher year-over-year, thanks to strong adoption of new products by customers. About 60% of customers upgraded from the basic product in the first quarter compared to 20% in 2025. Revenue from corporate clients increased by 25% in March and by 16% for the quarter, marking record numbers for the company.

Southwest generated $1.4 billion in operating cash flow, which is 65% higher year-over-year, and returned over $1.3 billion to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. The company expects revenue per available seat mile to increase by 16.5%-18.5% year-over-year in the second quarter.

#WorldNews2026 #MarketTurbulence

There’s a lot of news out there. The news can be quite varied.
There are many changes in the economies of states and politics, as well as in high-tech areas and in financial and crypto markets. But our subscribers have the chance to stay updated on all the major market changes!!!

The main thing is that now, they don’t need to manually monitor dozens of info and news sites. Everything is already gathered in one feed.

Enjoy the viewing, everyone!