Southwest Airlines Co
Southwest Airlines Co returns on capital
Annual and trailing 12-month returns on invested capital, equity and assets.
ROIC
% · Annual / TTM
ROCE
% · Annual / TTM
ROIIC
% · Annual / TTM
ROE
% · Annual / TTM
ROA
% · Annual / TTM
ROIC − WACC
Percentage points · Scenario
Quarterly data
| Fiscal period | Ended | ROIC% | ROCE% | ROIIC% | ROE% | ROA% | ROIC − WACCPercentage points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY 2026 Q2 | Jun 30, 2026 | 9.14% | 6% | 93.64% | 11.11% | 2.85% | 1.4 pp |
| FY 2026 Q1 | Mar 31, 2026 | 9.13% | 5.42% | 38.56% | 10.07% | 2.61% | 1.4 pp |
| FY 2025 Q4 | Dec 31, 2025 | 3.49% | 2.16% | 77.16% | 4.82% | 1.4% | -4.2 pp |
| FY 2025 Q3 | Sep 30, 2025 | 2.61% | 1.63% | — | 4.22% | 1.2% | -5.1 pp |
| FY 2025 Q2 | Jun 30, 2025 | 2.6% | 1.62% | — | 4.3% | 1.22% | -5.1 pp |
| FY 2025 Q1 | Mar 31, 2025 | 4.29% | 2.28% | — | 5.68% | 1.58% | -3.4 pp |
| FY 2024 Q4 | Dec 31, 2024 | 2.66% | 1.4% | 27.8% | 4.65% | 1.32% | -5 pp |
| FY 2024 Q3 | Sep 30, 2024 | — | -1.56% | — | -0.37% | -0.14% | — |
| FY 2024 Q2 | Jun 30, 2024 | -1.66% | -1.22% | -85.96% | 0.86% | 0.21% | -9.4 pp |
| FY 2024 Q1 | Mar 31, 2024 | 0.85% | 0.48% | — | 3.97% | 1.1% | -6.9 pp |
| FY 2023 Q4 | Dec 31, 2023 | 1.78% | 0.91% | — | 4.57% | 1.29% | -5.9 pp |
| FY 2023 Q3 | Sep 30, 2023 | 2.04% | 0.96% | -259.11% | 11.72% | 1.36% | -5.7 pp |
| FY 2023 Q2 | Jun 30, 2023 | 4.47% | 2.03% | -84.27% | 12.52% | 1.55% | -3.2 pp |
| FY 2023 Q1 | Mar 31, 2023 | 7.18% | 3.44% | -18.13% | 13.98% | 1.81% | -0.5 pp |
| FY 2022 Q4 | Dec 31, 2022 | 8.39% | 3.9% | -82.96% | -29.14% | 1.5% | 0.7 pp |
| FY 2022 Q3 | Sep 30, 2022 | 13.7% | 5.97% | — | 16.48% | 2.26% | 6 pp |
| FY 2022 Q2 | Jun 30, 2022 | 18.79% | 7.4% | — | 18.35% | 2.6% | 11.1 pp |
| FY 2022 Q1 | Mar 31, 2022 | 12.51% | 5.03% | — | 15.3% | 1.61% | 4.8 pp |
| FY 2021 Q4 | Dec 31, 2021 | 15.1% | 6.35% | — | 10.13% | 2.76% | 7.4 pp |
| FY 2021 Q3 | Sep 30, 2021 | — | 1.28% | — | 0.02% | 0.01% | — |
| FY 2021 Q2 | Jun 30, 2021 | — | -6.88% | — | -15.57% | -4.34% | — |
| FY 2021 Q1 | Mar 31, 2021 | — | -15.96% | — | -31.53% | -9.18% | — |
| FY 2020 Q4 | Dec 31, 2020 | — | -17.34% | — | -32.86% | -10.16% | — |
| FY 2020 Q3 | Sep 30, 2020 | — | -8.69% | — | -16.77% | -5.32% | — |
| FY 2020 Q2 | Jun 30, 2020 | — | 1.12% | — | 1.58% | 0.53% | — |
| FY 2020 Q1 | Mar 31, 2020 | 17.71% | 13.62% | — | 19.29% | 6.82% | 10 pp |
| FY 2019 Q4 | Dec 31, 2019 | 21.57% | 16.76% | — | 23.37% | 8.82% | 13.9 pp |
| FY 2019 Q3 | Sep 30, 2019 | 22.25% | 16.88% | — | 24.31% | 9.15% | 14.5 pp |
| FY 2019 Q2 | Jun 30, 2019 | 21.9% | 16.93% | — | 24.05% | 9.07% | 14.2 pp |
| FY 2019 Q1 | Mar 31, 2019 | 21.91% | 17.16% | — | 24.62% | 9.2% | 14.2 pp |
| FY 2018 Q4 | Dec 31, 2018 | 20.83% | 17.55% | — | 24.31% | 9.6% | 13.1 pp |
| FY 2018 Q3 | Sep 30, 2018 | — | 17.39% | — | 39.03% | 14.47% | — |
| FY 2018 Q2 | Jun 30, 2018 | — | 17.96% | — | 38.72% | 14.24% | — |
| FY 2018 Q1 | Mar 31, 2018 | — | 20.05% | — | 40.4% | 14.61% | — |
| FY 2017 Q4 | Dec 31, 2017 | — | 20.29% | — | 36.97% | 14.41% | — |
| FY 2017 Q3 | Sep 30, 2017 | 23.15% | 22.07% | -18% | 25.19% | 8.97% | 15.4 pp |
| FY 2017 Q2 | Jun 30, 2017 | 22.86% | 21.94% | -64.25% | 24.55% | 8.66% | 15.2 pp |
| FY 2017 Q1 | Mar 31, 2017 | 24.69% | 22.94% | -47.86% | 26.51% | 9.05% | 17 pp |
| FY 2016 Q4 | Dec 31, 2016 | 24.91% | 24.78% | -16.87% | 28.41% | 10.06% | 17.2 pp |
| FY 2016 Q3 | Sep 30, 2016 | 28.7% | 26.9% | 10.64% | 30.04% | 10.2% | 21 pp |
| FY 2016 Q2 | Jun 30, 2016 | 32.66% | 31.03% | 81.95% | 32.73% | 11.26% | 25 pp |
| FY 2016 Q1 | Mar 31, 2016 | 33.57% | 30.3% | 109.7% | 31.1% | 10.32% | 25.9 pp |
| FY 2015 Q4 | Dec 31, 2015 | 30.11% | 29.21% | 154.75% | 30.86% | 10.51% | 22.4 pp |
| FY 2015 Q3 | Sep 30, 2015 | 28.62% | 26.35% | — | 25.49% | 8.8% | 20.9 pp |
| FY 2015 Q2 | Jun 30, 2015 | 23.56% | 22.09% | — | 21.53% | 7.53% | 15.9 pp |
| FY 2015 Q1 | Mar 31, 2015 | 22.08% | 20.08% | — | 20.39% | 6.99% | 14.4 pp |
| FY 2014 Q4 | Dec 31, 2014 | 16.39% | 15.92% | — | 16.1% | 5.75% | 8.7 pp |
| FY 2014 Q3 | Sep 30, 2014 | 14.78% | 14.26% | — | 16.04% | 5.8% | 7.1 pp |
| FY 2014 Q2 | Jun 30, 2014 | 13.28% | 12.86% | 426.49% | 15.22% | 5.4% | 5.6 pp |
| FY 2014 Q1 | Mar 31, 2014 | 10.52% | 10.42% | — | 11.97% | 4.32% | 2.8 pp |
| FY 2013 Q4 | Dec 31, 2013 | 8.94% | 9.26% | — | 10.52% | 3.97% | 1.2 pp |
| FY 2013 Q3 | Sep 30, 2013 | 6.92% | 7.11% | — | 8.85% | 3.25% | -0.8 pp |
| FY 2013 Q2 | Jun 30, 2013 | 4.58% | 4.77% | — | 5.54% | 1.99% | -3.1 pp |
| FY 2013 Q1 | Mar 31, 2013 | 4.73% | 4.88% | — | 5.42% | 2% | -3 pp |
| FY 2012 Q4 | Dec 31, 2012 | 4.07% | 4.53% | — | 6.07% | 2.3% | -3.6 pp |
| FY 2012 Q3 | Sep 30, 2012 | 4.4% | 5.15% | — | 7.33% | 2.69% | -3.3 pp |
| FY 2012 Q2 | Jun 30, 2012 | 11.49% | 12.71% | 1.15% | 9.88% | 3.65% | 3.8 pp |
| FY 2012 Q1 | Mar 31, 2012 | 2.76% | 3.05% | -41.97% | 1.61% | 0.62% | -4.9 pp |
| FY 2011 Q4 | Dec 31, 2011 | 4.21% | 5.39% | -15.72% | 2.71% | 1.06% | -3.5 pp |
| FY 2011 Q3 | Sep 30, 2011 | — | 4.53% | — | -0.06% | -0.02% | — |
| FY 2011 Q2 | Jun 30, 2011 | 10.36% | 11.76% | — | 12.29% | 4.55% | 2.7 pp |
| FY 2011 Q1 | Mar 31, 2011 | 8.05% | 8.86% | — | 7.47% | 2.93% | 0.4 pp |
| FY 2010 Q4 | Dec 31, 2010 | 7.5% | 8.32% | 92.14% | 7.84% | 3.09% | -0.2 pp |
| FY 2010 Q3 | Sep 30, 2010 | 7.14% | 8.15% | — | 7.95% | 3.04% | -0.6 pp |
| FY 2010 Q2 | Jun 30, 2010 | 4.74% | 5.36% | — | 4.17% | 1.54% | -3 pp |
| FY 2010 Q1 | Mar 31, 2010 | 3.4% | 3.23% | — | 3.15% | 1.15% | -4.3 pp |
| FY 2009 Q4 | Dec 31, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FY 2009 Q3 | Sep 30, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FY 2009 Q2 | Jun 30, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| FY 2009 Q1 | Mar 31, 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sources and calculations
Financial inputs from company filings. Last checked Oct 18, 2026. A dash means missing inputs or an undefined calculation.
Period changes use the preceding fiscal quarter or year. Percentage changes divide by the absolute prior value; a zero or missing baseline has no percentage change. Percentage metrics show changes in percentage points.
Quarterly returns use trailing 12-month earnings and period-end balances averaged with the same fiscal quarter one year earlier. NOPAT uses the reported effective tax rate only when pretax profit is positive and the rate is between 0 and 100%. WACC starts at 7.7%, rounded from the US nonfinancial market · generic proxy benchmark in NYU Stern · January 2026. It is an editable US sector proxy applied across history, not a company estimate; foreign reporting currencies also need a currency-specific assessment.
Market prices: Yahoo Finance · LUV, USD. Latest completed close Sep 25, 2026. Price data retrieved Sep 28, 2026.
- ROIC
- NOPAT / average invested capital × 100. NOPAT = operating income × (1 − effective tax rate). Invested capital = equity including noncontrolling interests + debt − cash and equivalents. Average uses period end and one year earlier.
- ROCE
- Operating income / average (assets − current liabilities) × 100, using period end and one year earlier.
- ROIIC
- Year-over-year change in annual/TTM NOPAT / positive year-over-year change in invested capital × 100. Capital reductions and missing inputs yield unavailable values.
- ROE
- Earnings attributable to owners / average equity attributable to owners × 100, using period end and one year earlier.
- ROA
- Net income / average total assets × 100, using period end and one year earlier.
- ROIC − WACC
- ROIC less your WACC assumption, in percentage points. The same scenario rate is applied across history; it is not a reported or historical company WACC.