Southwest Airlines (LUV) Q2 Earnings Beat
Southwest Airlines Co. LUV reported second-quarter 2018 earnings per share (excluding a penny from non-recurring items) of $1.26, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.25. Earnings increased 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 second-quarter earnings being revised 8% downward over the last 60 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 1.5%.
Southwest Airlines Co. Price and EPS Surprise
Southwest Airlines Co. Price and EPS Surprise | Southwest Airlines Co. Quote
Revenues Lower Than Expected
Southwest Airlines recorded revenues of $5,742 million, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,771 million. However, revenues increased year-over-year.
Key Stats to Note: The airline witnessed a 3.6% decrease in consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM: a key measure of unit revenue) in the quarter. For the third quarter of 2018, the carrier expects revenue per available seat mile (RASM) growth in the range of down 1% to up 1%. Third-quarter unit costs, excluding fuel and oil expense, profit-sharing expense, and special items is estimated to increase in the band of 2-3%. The same for 2018 is expected to increase in the band of 0-1%. While economic fuel costs for the third quarter is predicted to be $2.25 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.
Check back later for our full write up on this Southwest Airlines earnings report later!
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