What does the company do?
Southwest Airlines Co. (Southwest) is a passenger airline that provides scheduled air transportation in the United States. As of December 31, 2008, the Company operated 537 Boeing 737 aircraft and provided service to 64 cities in 32 states throughout the United States. The Company focuses principally on point-to-point service, rather than hub-and-spoke service. As of December 31, 2008, Southwest served 438 non-stop city pairs. Approximately 78% of the Company’s customers fly non-stop. Southwest predominantly serves short-haul routes with high frequencies. It complements this service with more medium to long-haul routes, including transcontinental service. The Company’s average aircraft trip stage length for the year ended December 31, 2008, was 636 miles with an average duration of approximately 1.8 hours.
How much does the company sell and earn?
Investors need to know how much stuff or services a company sells, and how much of that total it keeps as income (or profit) to grow its business or return to shareholders. The more of each, the better. In general, look for companies that sell and earn more than peers.
- Southwest Air one-year sales: 10.37 Bil.
Difference from the average for the Regional Airlines group: 113.90% - Southwest Air one-year income: -72.00 Mil.
| Sales & Income (past 12 months) | Company | Industry |
|---|
| Sales | 10.37 Bil | 4.85 Bil | | Income | -72.00 Mil | 68.72 Mil |
How fast is the company growing?
- Southwest Air one-year sales growth: -7.90%.
Difference from the average for the Regional Airlines group: -0.40 pct. pts.| Sales & Income Growth (past 12 months) | Company | Industry |
|---|
| Sales Growth | -7.90% | -7.50% | | Income Growth | NA | 77.80% |
How profitable is the company?
Investors prefer companies that increase profit margins -- the percentage of sales that they keep -- every year. This is accomplished either by lowering expenses or raising prices. Look for companies that consistently find ways to squeeze more profits out of sales than their peers.
- Southwest Air one-year net profit margin: -0.7%
| Net profit margins (%) |
|---|
| Company | -0.7% | | Company 5-Yr Avg. | 4.6% | | Industry | 3.1% |
How is the company's financial health?
The debt/equity ratio shows how much a firm has borrowed as a percentage of its stock equity. The lower, the better.
- Southwest Air debt/equity ratio: 0.70.
Difference from the average for the Regional Airlines group: -27.08%.
| | Company | Industry |
|---|
| Debt/equity ratio | 0.70 | 0.96 |
|
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