Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) Q3 2020 earnings call dated Oct. 22, 2020
Southwest Airlines (LUV) expects business travel to remain down well into next year
Shares of Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) were up over 2% in afternoon hours on Friday. The stock has gained 35% over the past three months. The company reported better-than-expected results on Thursday and shared its demand outlook.
Southwest expects to see better revenues and lower costs in the fourth quarter compared to Q3 and the company is looking to unblock the middle seats from the start of December which should help absorb the 50% increase in seats offered for sale as demand improves. Operating revenues fell 68% year-over-year to $1.8 billion and adjusted loss amounted to $1.99 per share compared to EPS of $1.23 last year. The company saw revenues decline across all of its segments with passenger revenue dropping 72%. Demand and bookings were hindered at the beginning of the quarter by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. July revenues dropped 71% year-over-year and capacity was down 31%. The trend improved slightly in August with the revenue decline at 69% and capacity down 27%. September saw revenues drop 66% while capacity was down 41% as the airline reduced its schedules to rightsize its capacity for post-summer demand.
Ryan Martinez — Managing Director Investor Relations
Gary C. Kelly — Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
Michael G. Van de Ven — Chief Operating Officer
Tom Nealon — President
Tammy Romo — Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Watterson — Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Mark Shaw — Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer
Linda Rutherford — Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer
Myles Walton — UBS Equities — Analyst
Duane Pfennigwerth — Evercore Partners — Analyst
Helane Becker — Cowen Securities — Analyst
Hunter Keay — Wolfe Research — Analyst
Joseph DeNardi — Stifel — Analyst
Jamie Baker — J. P. Morgan Securities Inc. — Analyst
Kyle Arnold — Dallas Morning News — Analyst
Alison Sider — Wall Street Journal — Analyst
Tracy Rucinski — Reuters — Analyst
Mary Schlangenstein — Bloomberg News — Analyst
David Koenig — The Associated Press — Analyst
Dawn Gilbertson — USA Today — Analyst
Robert Silk — Travel Weekly — Analyst
