Southwest Airlines (LUV) financial statements
Southwest Airlines reported revenue of $28.1B in fiscal 2025, up 3.7% a year over 9 years.
Net income was $441M and the operating margin 1.5%, against 17.4% in 2016.
Free cash flow was -$831M, and the company returned $399M in dividends and $2.5B in net buybacks.
The diluted share count fell 12% over the period (buybacks).
Revenue and free cash flow
Fiscal years, $ billions.
Income statement
Fiscal years, from Southwest Airlines's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $20.3B | $21.1B | $22.0B | $22.4B | $9.0B | $15.8B | $23.8B | $26.1B | $27.5B | $28.1B |
| Operating income | $3.5B | $3.4B | $3.2B | $3.0B | -$3.8B | $1.7B | $1.0B | $224M | $321M | $428M |
| Interest expense | $122M | $114M | $131M | $118M | — | — | $340M | $259M | $249M | $167M |
| Pre-tax income | $3.5B | $3.3B | $3.2B | $3.0B | -$4.3B | $1.3B | $728M | $633M | $598M | $563M |
| Income tax | $1.3B | -$92M | $699M | $657M | -$1.2B | $348M | $189M | $168M | $133M | $122M |
| Net income | $2.2B | $3.4B | $2.5B | $2.3B | -$3.1B | $977M | $539M | $465M | $465M | $441M |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.55 | $5.57 | $4.29 | $4.27 | -$5.44 | $1.61 | $0.87 | $0.76 | $0.76 | $0.79 |
| Diluted shares | 633M | 603M | 574M | 539M | 565M | 609M | 642M | 640M | 643M | 558M |
| Operating margin | 17.4% | 16.1% | 14.6% | 13.2% | -42.2% | 10.9% | 4.3% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.5% |
| Net margin | 10.8% | 15.9% | 11.2% | 10.3% | -34.0% | 6.2% | 2.3% | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
Balance sheet
Fiscal years, from Southwest Airlines's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $3.3B | $3.3B | $3.7B | $4.1B | $13.3B | $15.5B | $12.3B | $11.5B | $8.7B | $3.2B |
| Receivables | — | — | — | — | $46M | $58M | $117M | $104M | $47M | $98M |
| Total current assets | $4.5B | $4.8B | $5.0B | $6.0B | $15.2B | $18.0B | $14.8B | $14.0B | $11.3B | $5.6B |
| Property, plant and equipment | $17.0B | $18.5B | $19.5B | $17.0B | $15.8B | $14.8B | $17.3B | $19.4B | $19.1B | $20.2B |
| Goodwill | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M | $970M |
| Total assets | $23.3B | $25.1B | $26.2B | $25.9B | $34.6B | $36.3B | $35.4B | $36.5B | $33.8B | $29.1B |
| Total current liabilities | $6.8B | $6.9B | $7.9B | $9.0B | $7.5B | $9.2B | $10.4B | $12.3B | $12.3B | $10.9B |
| Long-term debt | $2.8B | $3.3B | $2.8B | $1.8B | $10.1B | $10.3B | $8.0B | $8.0B | $5.1B | $4.6B |
| Total liabilities | $15.5B | $15.5B | $16.4B | $16.1B | $25.7B | $25.9B | $24.7B | $26.0B | $23.4B | $21.1B |
| Shareholders' equity | $7.8B | $9.6B | $9.9B | $9.8B | $8.9B | $10.4B | $10.7B | $10.5B | $10.3B | $8.0B |
| Net debt | $1.1B | $1.8B | $917M | -$702M | -$952M | -$2.2B | -$1.4B | -$1.3B | -$2.4B | $1.3B |
Cash flow
Fiscal years, from Southwest Airlines's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $4.3B | $3.9B | $4.9B | $4.0B | -$1.1B | $2.3B | $3.8B | $3.2B | $462M | $1.8B |
| Capital spending | $2.0B | $2.1B | $1.9B | $1.0B | $515M | $505M | $3.9B | $3.5B | $2.1B | $2.7B |
| Free cash flow | $2.3B | $1.8B | $3.0B | $3.0B | -$1.6B | $1.8B | -$134M | -$356M | -$1.6B | -$831M |
| Stock-based compensation | $33M | $37M | $46M | $55M | $17M | $58M | $84M | $86M | $45M | $99M |
| Dividends paid | $222M | $274M | $332M | $372M | $188M | $0 | $0 | $428M | $430M | $399M |
| Share buybacks (net) | -$1.8B | -$1.6B | -$2.0B | -$2.0B | -$451M | $0 | $0 | $0 | -$250M | -$2.5B |
| Net borrowing | $515M | $600M | $0 | $0 | $5.6B | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $1.5B |
| Free cash flow margin | 11.1% | 8.5% | 13.5% | 13.2% | -18.1% | 11.5% | -0.6% | -1.4% | -5.8% | -3.0% |
| Dividends per share | $0.35 | $0.45 | $0.58 | $0.69 | $0.33 | — | — | $0.67 | $0.67 | $0.72 |
Questions
What was Southwest Airlines's revenue in 2025?
$28.1B in fiscal 2025, from its 10-K filing.
How much free cash flow does Southwest Airlines generate?
-$831M in fiscal 2025 (operating cash flow minus capital spending).
From Southwest Airlines's annual reports filed with the SEC (XBRL data), standardised by Investingly. Information only, not investment advice.