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Southwest Airlines (LUV) Competitors

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$33.81 -0.27 (-0.79%)
Closing price 07/7/2025 03:59 PM Eastern
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$33.68 -0.13 (-0.38%)
As of 07/7/2025 07:53 PM Eastern
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LUV vs. AAL, ALGT, CHRW, JBLU, LSTR, SKYW, UAL, ALK, CPA, and DAL

Should you be buying Southwest Airlines stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Southwest Airlines include American Airlines Group (AAL), Allegiant Travel (ALGT), C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW), JetBlue Airways (JBLU), Landstar System (LSTR), SkyWest (SKYW), United Airlines (UAL), Alaska Air Group (ALK), Copa (CPA), and Delta Air Lines (DAL). These companies are all part of the "transportation" sector.

Southwest Airlines vs. Its Competitors

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk and analyst recommendations.

American Airlines Group has higher revenue and earnings than Southwest Airlines. American Airlines Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Airlines, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Southwest Airlines$27.48B0.70$465M$0.8539.78
American Airlines Group$54.21B0.14$846M$0.9012.88

In the previous week, Southwest Airlines had 2 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 22 mentions for Southwest Airlines and 20 mentions for American Airlines Group. American Airlines Group's average media sentiment score of 0.68 beat Southwest Airlines' score of 0.30 indicating that American Airlines Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment
Southwest Airlines
1 Very Positive mention(s)
8 Positive mention(s)
10 Neutral mention(s)
2 Negative mention(s)
0 Very Negative mention(s)
Neutral
American Airlines Group
14 Very Positive mention(s)
0 Positive mention(s)
4 Neutral mention(s)
0 Negative mention(s)
0 Very Negative mention(s)
Positive

Southwest Airlines has a net margin of 1.98% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.26%. Southwest Airlines' return on equity of 7.27% beat American Airlines Group's return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Southwest Airlines1.98% 7.27% 2.15%
American Airlines Group 1.26%-26.59%1.91%

80.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Southwest Airlines has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.36, suggesting that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus target price of $32.31, indicating a potential downside of 4.43%. American Airlines Group has a consensus target price of $15.84, indicating a potential upside of 36.69%. Given American Airlines Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Airlines Group is more favorable than Southwest Airlines.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Southwest Airlines
5 Sell rating(s)
8 Hold rating(s)
5 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.00
American Airlines Group
1 Sell rating(s)
7 Hold rating(s)
9 Buy rating(s)
2 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.63

Summary

American Airlines Group beats Southwest Airlines on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding LUV and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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LUV vs. The Competition

MetricSouthwest AirlinesTRANS IndustryTransportation SectorNYSE Exchange
Market Cap$19.42B$7.42B$7.19B$20.71B
Dividend Yield2.11%8,200.04%914.35%3.72%
P/E Ratio39.7810.1912.8727.80
Price / Sales0.701,771.35319.0947.18
Price / Cash9.075.027.5218.22
Price / Book1.962.522.094.59
Net Income$465M$607.36M$563.51M$982.91M
7 Day Performance1.20%1.83%1.22%0.65%
1 Month Performance0.96%3.60%3.74%4.26%
1 Year Performance23.66%51.40%3.22%13.93%

Southwest Airlines Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
LUV
Southwest Airlines
3.9184 of 5 stars
$33.81
-0.8%
$32.31
-4.4%
+25.5%$19.42B$27.48B39.7872,450Trending News
Analyst Forecast
AAL
American Airlines Group
4.3938 of 5 stars
$11.26
-0.2%
$15.68
+39.3%
+5.0%$7.43B$54.21B12.51133,300News Coverage
Analyst Forecast
ALGT
Allegiant Travel
4.7105 of 5 stars
$55.01
-1.3%
$63.70
+15.8%
+22.3%$1.00B$2.51B-4.755,991Trending News
Analyst Forecast
Gap Down
CHRW
C.H. Robinson Worldwide
4.7911 of 5 stars
$95.41
-1.3%
$114.52
+20.0%
+11.8%$11.33B$17.72B22.8313,781
JBLU
JetBlue Airways
2.0037 of 5 stars
$4.23
-1.2%
$5.16
+22.0%
-26.4%$1.50B$9.28B-5.1622,793
LSTR
Landstar System
4.1717 of 5 stars
$139.02
-0.3%
$150.38
+8.2%
-20.9%$4.86B$4.82B27.531,441
SKYW
SkyWest
4.6294 of 5 stars
$103.15
-0.2%
$120.67
+17.0%
+31.1%$4.17B$3.53B11.8014,610
UAL
United Airlines
4.7099 of 5 stars
$79.75
+0.7%
$104.64
+31.2%
+72.6%$26.05B$57.06B7.2792,800Positive News
Analyst Forecast
ALK
Alaska Air Group
4.6665 of 5 stars
$49.46
+0.2%
$66.83
+35.1%
+32.1%$6.07B$12.64B17.9933,941Positive News
Analyst Forecast
CPA
Copa
4.8097 of 5 stars
$109.37
+1.2%
$153.00
+39.9%
+19.5%$4.50B$3.44B7.477,909
DAL
Delta Air Lines
4.3181 of 5 stars
$49.31
-0.6%
$61.67
+25.1%
+8.8%$32.20B$61.64B8.7495,000Trending News
Upcoming Earnings
Analyst Forecast

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This page (NYSE:LUV) was last updated on 7/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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