Southwest Airlines Company (LUV)
Return on total capital
| Dec 31, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | Dec 31, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | Jun 30, 2024 | Mar 31, 2024 | Dec 31, 2023 | Sep 30, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | Mar 31, 2023 | Dec 31, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | Jun 30, 2022 | Mar 31, 2022 | Dec 31, 2021 | Sep 30, 2021 | Jun 30, 2021 | Mar 31, 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) (ttm) | US$ in thousands | 677,000 | 615,000 | 668,000 | 895,000 | 812,000 | 208,000 | 361,000 | 774,000 | 869,000 | 872,000 | 1,004,000 | 1,176,000 | 1,029,000 | 1,446,000 | 1,724,000 | 1,216,000 | 1,757,000 | 336,000 | -1,812,000 | -3,572,000 |
| Long-term debt | US$ in thousands | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total stockholders’ equity | US$ in thousands | 7,981,000 | 7,776,000 | 8,000,000 | 9,365,000 | 10,350,000 | 10,411,000 | 10,465,000 | 10,196,000 | 10,515,000 | 11,054,000 | 10,789,000 | 10,302,000 | 10,687,000 | 10,924,000 | 11,120,000 | 10,417,000 | 10,414,000 | 10,250,000 | 9,688,000 | 9,093,000 |
| Return on total capital | 8.48% | 7.91% | 8.35% | 9.56% | 7.85% | 2.00% | 3.45% | 7.59% | 8.26% | 7.89% | 9.31% | 11.42% | 9.63% | 13.24% | 15.50% | 11.67% | 16.87% | 3.28% | -18.70% | -39.28% |
December 31, 2025 calculation
Return on total capital = EBIT (ttm) ÷ (Long-term debt + Total stockholders’ equity)
= $677,000K ÷ ($—K + $7,981,000K)
= 8.48%
Peer comparison
Dec 31, 2025
Company name
Symbol
Return on total capital
Southwest Airlines Company
LUV
8.48%
Alaska Air Group Inc
ALK
—
American Airlines Group
AAL
—
Delta Air Lines Inc
DAL
31.71%
JetBlue Airways Corp
JBLU
-7.89%
SkyWest Inc
SKYW
23.43%
United Airlines Holdings Inc
UAL
30.09%