Southwest Airlines profit jumps 9% as passengers pick up fuel tab, but third-quarter forecast falls short

Southwest Airlines reported a more than 9% increase in second-quarter profit from last year as higher fares are increasingly helping the airline cover its fuel tab, but its outlook for the summer fell below Wall Street forecasts.

The airline forecast third-quarter adjusted earnings of between 50 cents and 75 cents, below the 82 cents analysts expected, even though it projected an increase in sales between 17.5% to 19.5% from a year earlier. The Dallas airline said it plans to contract capacity 1% at most or keep flying flat compared with the third quarter of 2025.

In the second quarter, Southwest’s revenue increased 16.4% to $8.4 billion.

Southwest said its fuel bill rose almost $900 million in the second quarter from a year earlier.

Here’s what Southwest reported for second quarter compared with Wall Street expectations, according to consensus estimates from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 94 cents adjusted. It was not immediately clear if that was comparable to expectations for 51 cents
• Revenue: $8.43 billion vs. $8.58 billion expected

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