Key Takeaways
- Southwest Airlines shares surged Thursday as the airline adjusted its third-quarter and full-year projections, and announced a $2.5 billion stock buyback program.
- The announcements preceded the start of Southwest's Investor Day on Thursday.
- The airline has faced pressure in recent months from activist investor Elliott Investment Management to make revenue-generating adjustments and to change its executive leadership.
Shares of Southwest Airlines (LUV) jumped Thursday as it announced a $2.5 billion 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:stock buyback program and p💛rovided a positive update to its third-quarte🥀r and full fiscal year outlook.
The airline released the information ahead of Thursday's Southwest Investor Day event. This included 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:previously announced changes like assigned seating and overnight flights coming in 2025, and some new rollouts, like a partnership with Icelandair and a packaged vacation service called "Getaways by Southwest."
Southwest also said it expects to yield some $500 million in savings by 2027 by reducing hiring, "optimizing scheduling efficiency," and improving its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:supply chain.
Southwest Lifts Q3, Full-Year Revenue Outlook
Southwest also updated its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:projections for a number of metrics like 澳洲幸ꦛ运5官方开奖🐽结果体彩网:revenue per available seat mile (RASM) and fuel costs. For the third quarter, Southwest now expects revenue to be up 2% to 3% year-over-year, after previous projections expected revenue flat to down 2%. Fuel costs are projected between $2.50 and $2.60 per gallon, down from $2.60 to $2.70 previously.
Southwest has faced increasing pressure in recent months to make changes at the executive level and improve profitability, with 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:activist investor Elliott Investment Management 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:leading the push for changes. Wednesday, the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:airline informed employees that among the changes to its operations over the next several months will be a reduc🍷tion in service at Atlanta's 💟airport.
Southwest shares were up 6.4% at $30.20 at around 1:15 p.m. ET Thurs🅷day, after gaining as much as 11% 🅠earlier in the session.