A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 airplane lands at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving from Chicago on March 7, 2026.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images
Southwest Airlines forecast second-quarter earnings below analyst estimates, citing higher fuel prices, while holding off on updating its full-year 2026 forecast.
Southwest expects to earn between 35 cents and 65 cents a share in the current quarter, while analysts polled by LSEG expected 55 cents a share.
The airline in January forecast earnings per share of $4 this year, saying that it expected its new initiatives would pay off. Southwest has sought to increase revenue with checked bag fees and seat assignment fees.
“Achieving this outcome would require lower fuel prices and/or stronger revenue performance to offset higher fuel expense. The Company expects to provide updates to this guidance as appropriate,” Southwest said in an earnings release Wednesday.
Airlines have been either cutting their full-year forecasts or holding off on further forecasts because of volatile prices for jet fuel, generally their biggest expense after labor. They are also pulling back on their capacity growth plans to cut costs, which can drive up airfare when fewer seats are for sale.
Southwest said it expects its capacity to be flat to up no more than 1% in the second quarter, and unit revenues to rise by 16.5% to as much as 18.5% over last year.
Customers have shown they willing to keep booking despite higher fares, CEO Bob Jordan told reporters on Wednesday after the company reported results.
“Demand is really strong … strong in every sector,” he said.
Here’s what the company reported for first quarter compared with Wall Street expectations, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:
- Earnings per share: 45 cents vs. 47 cents cents expected
- Revenue: $7.25 billion vs. $7.27 billion expected
Southwest swung to a profit of $227 million, or 45 cents a share in the first quarter, compared with a $149 million loss, or a loss of 26 cents per share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose nearly 13% to $7.25 billion compared with $6.43 billion in the year-earlier period.
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