Here's Why Investors Should Bet on Southwest Airlines Stock Now

Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) is benefiting from its revenue management actions. As part of its growth strategy, LUV is focused on its cost-cutting initiatives and fleet-modernization techniques. Due to these tailwinds, LUV shares have performed impressively on the bourse. If you have not taken advantage of its share price appreciation yet, it’s time to do so.Let’s delve deeper.LUV’s Northward Earnings Estimate Revision: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has been revised upward by 10.3% in the past 90 days. Such favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ confidence in the stock.Robust Price Performance: A look at the company’s price trend reveals that its shares have risen 22.8% over the past six months against the industry’s 39.3% loss.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchPositive Earnings Surprise History: Southwest Airlines has an encouraging earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters (missed in the remaining quarter), delivering an average surprise of 111.62%.Solid Zacks Rank: LUV currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).Bullish Industry Rank: The industry to which LUV belongs currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 19 (out of 248). Such a favorable rank places it in the top 8% of Zacks Industries. Studies show that 50% of a stock price movement is directly related to the performance of the industry group it belongs to.A mediocre stock within a strong group is likely to outclass a robust stock in a weak industry. Reckoning the industry’s performance becomes imperative.Growth Factors: Improvement in air-travel demand following the end of the pandemic and normalization of economic activities bodes well for Southwest Airlines’ top line. Given that air-travel demand remains healthy, LUV now anticipates its fourth-quarter revenue per available seat mile (RASM or unit revenues) to increase in the range of 5.5%-7% on a year-over-year basis. This marks an improvement from the previous forecast of growth of 3.5% to 5.5%. The upside was owing to improving industry demand trends, and the company's revenue management techniques paid off. The solid growth in unit revenues is backed by consistent travel demand and benefits from the successful execution of tactical actions (which include improving network optimization and capacity rationalization, marketing and distribution evolution, and continued efforts to advance revenue management techniques). Considering recent revenue trends and forward bookings, including fourth-quarter holiday travel, LUV is hopeful that solid revenue trends and tactical initiative performance will continue into 2025.As part of its growth strategy, LUV is focused on its cost-cutting initiatives and fleet-modernization techniques. LUV's liquidity position is also encouraging. A solid balance sheet allows LUV to reward its shareholders through share buybacks and dividend payments.Other Stocks to ConsiderInvestors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector may also consider other top-ranked stocks such as American Airlines AAL and United Airlines UAL.American Airlines currently sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. AAL has an expected earnings growth rate of 16% for the current year. The company has an impressive earnings surprise history. Its earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed once, delivering an average beat of 124.4%. Shares of AAL have risen 16.4% in the past year.United Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). UAL has an expected earnings growth rate of 1.3% for the current year.The company has an encouraging track record with respect to the earnings surprise, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters. The average beat is 26.9%. Shares of UAL have surged 122.9% in the past year.Research Chief Names "Single Best Pick to Double"From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.This company targets millennial and Gen Z audiences, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue last quarter alone. A recent pullback makes now an ideal time to jump aboard. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV): Free Stock Analysis Report American Airlines Group Inc. (AAL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks