Southwest Airlines Co vs Moody's Corporation — how do they compare? Southwest Airlines Co trades at $45.8 (market cap $21.97B), while Moody's Corporation trades at $476.73 (market cap $82.80B). The key difference: Moody's Corporation is far larger — about 3.8× Southwest Airlines Co's market cap, and Southwest Airlines Co pays the higher dividend (1.6%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| LUV | MCO | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $21.97B | $82.80B |
Sector | Industrials | Financials |
52-Week High | $54.80 | $539.61 |
52-Week Low | $29.67 | $412.23 |
Enterprise Value | $25.06B | $88.83B |
Dividend Yield | 1.6% | 0.86% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Southwest Airlines (LUV) trades at $47.05, up 0.23% today, with a bullish technical signal and consensus price target of $53.86. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $0.94 versus $0.51 expected, driven by record revenue. The company maintains a solid liquidity position of $8.73B cash and has declared quarterly dividends of $0.18 per share, with new board appointments signaling strategic focus.
Outlook is positive with projected 2026 net income margin of 2.78% and revenue growth to $30.1B, but risks include fuel cost volatility and competitive pressures. Analyst sentiment is mixed with 42% buy ratings, offering potential upside of 14.5% to the consensus target, though institutional selling by firms like Elliott Management warrants monitoring.
MCO trades at $477.75, up 0.98% on the day, with a bullish technical signal and strong fundamentals. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $4.68 versus $4.26 expected, driven by robust debt issuance and analytics demand. Revenue growth accelerated to 15% year-over-year, with net income margin expanding to 34.25%. The stock is supported by a consensus price target of $561.88, indicating 17.6% upside potential, and positive analyst sentiment with 56% buy ratings.
Outlook remains positive due to consistent earnings beats, high profitability, and strategic positioning in credit ratings. Risks include elevated valuation multiples, such as a P/E of 30.31, and dependence on capital market activity. Investors should weigh growth prospects against potential macroeconomic headwinds affecting debt issuance volumes.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Southwest Airlines is the largest domestic carrier in the United States, as measured by the number of originating passengers boarded. Southwest operates over 700 aircraft in an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Despite expanding into longer routes and business travel, the airline still specializes in short-haul leisure flights, using a point-to-point network. Southwest operates a low-cost carrier business model.
Read more on LUV →Moody's, along with S&P Ratings, is a leading provider of credit ratings on fixed income securities. Moody's ratings segment, known as Moody's Investors Service or MIS, includes corporates, structured finance, financial institutions, and public finance ratings. MIS represents a majority of the firm's revenue and profits. Moody's other segment is Moody's Analytics and consists of Research, Data, and Analytics or RD&A and Enterprise Risk Solutions or ERS. RD&A's products include credit research, quantitative credit scores, economic research, business intelligence, know your customer (KYC) tools, commercial real estate data and analytical tools, and training services. ERS includes risk management software solutions to financial institutions.
Read more on MCO →