Yeah that’s a good way to pocket some income in ESPP. I got into the scheme thinking it would be a nice little savings engine that I could see some moderate gains on at the end of a long period of time. Not so much for anyone like me that started during the Gary Kelly days.
I flew with a bloke in HOU a few years back that had his entire profit sharing account in LUV. He recommended I do the same. I am not a financial advisor, but even I knew that was a terrible idea. Of course, the gold hoarders are all laughing at me now, so who knows.

 

I haven taken some off the table along the way to lock in gains. I bought a new HVAC system with my post COVID gains and am now sitting on $15k in gains on shares bought since 2023…but hey at keast you’ve been getting that sweet $0.18 divvy all these years! 😉

 

As predicted. 2025 was a dud. Hopefully the last of low single operating margins for a while. Spent $3.2 billion in capex but only generated $1.8 Billion in cashflow from operations. Thats not great. So they issued $1.5 Billion in new debt. SWA ended the year with about $4.9 Billion in long term debt. To make a comparison, thats about what UAL paid in 2025 in debt payments. They still have another $20.0 Billion to go. 66 airplanes coming in 2026 with 60 retirement's. Thats good news. "Other revenues" were up 6% for the quarter. Operating income for the quarter was up 40% for the quarter and 33% for the year. So its all going in the right direction. It's the first time in years that SWA has given forward earnings guidance. At least $4.00 a share. That could translate to a couple of Billion in earnings. RASM guidance is projected to be up 9% for the first quarter. SWA hasn't made money in the first quarter in years. So thats a good way to start 2026. Profit sharing sucks again for 2025. Hopeful for 2026. CC is at 10am.

 

Earnings forecasted to triple for 2026. Stock is up 12% on the news.

 

Amazing what happens when you start running the airline like a business.

 

Do not get to excited,they now have to preform as promised. This is a tall order.

 

Flown with a few guys that max out each month and immediately sell. They say it gets them about $3-$4K per year. Too much work for me. I’d rather pick up a trip for premium and save me the tax paperwork.

 

whoops. gains go bye bye

 

Not really and not yet. I rolled the covered calls from 47 up to 49 for net credit and out by only 2 weeks. At this point, I'm pretty sure I'll let it go to assignment at 49 since our stock can be rather temperamental.

 

Does Uncle Elliott cash out or stay for more?