Wall Street is expecting higher profit for Southwest Airlines when the company reports its fourth quarter results on Thursday, January 22, 2015. The consensus estimate is calling for profit of 54 cents a share, a rise from 33 cents per share a year ago.
The consensus estimate remains unchanged over the past month, but it has increased from three months ago when it was 50 cents. For the fiscal year, analysts are projecting earnings of $1.97 per share. Revenue is projected to be $4.59 billion for the quarter, 4% above the year-earlier total of $4.43 billion. For the year, revenue is projected to come in at $18.56 billion.
For the past three quarters, the company has seen revenue increase. In the third quarter, revenue rose 8% to $4.80 billion while the figure rose 8% in the second quarter from the year earlier and 2% in the first quarter.
The 55% profit increase in the third quarter positioned the company at its fourth straight quarter of double-digit year-over-year growth. Over that period, profit grew more than twofold on average, with the largest gain being a more than twofold surge in the fourth quarter.
The majority of analysts (67%) rate Southwest as a buy. This compares favorably to the analyst ratings of eight similar companies, which average 60% buys.
Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.
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