Southwest Airlines Co vs MGM Resorts International — how do they compare? Southwest Airlines Co trades at $45.71 (market cap $21.97B), while MGM Resorts International trades at $43.5 (market cap $10.91B). The key difference: Southwest Airlines Co is far larger — about 2× MGM Resorts International's market cap, and Southwest Airlines Co pays the higher dividend (1.6%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| LUV | MGM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $21.97B | $10.91B |
Sector | Industrials | Consumer Cyclical |
52-Week High | $54.80 | $50.69 |
52-Week Low | $29.67 | $30.72 |
Enterprise Value | $25.06B | $38.21B |
Dividend Yield | 1.6% | 0.03% |
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.
MGM Resorts International (MGM) trades at $44.47, down 0.51% on the day, with a bearish technical signal and neutral oscillators. The company reported record Q2 2026 revenue but missed earnings estimates, with net income margin at 2.4% and ROE at 15.44%. Recent news includes a potential acquisition investigation and BetMGM's expansion in Canada, while cash flow trends show improving net cash flow projections for 2026.
Outlook is mixed: analyst consensus leans neutral with a $51.14 price target, but risks include regulatory scrutiny and competitive pressures. The stock offers value with a P/S of 0.66, but investors should weigh earnings volatility and debt levels against growth in digital and Las Vegas operations.
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 →MGM Resorts is the largest resort operator on the Las Vegas Strip with 35,000 guest rooms and suites, representing about one fourth of all units in the market. The company's Vegas properties include MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Cosmopolitan, Luxor, New York-New York, and CityCenter. The Strip contributed approximately 49% of total EBITDAR in the prepandemic year of 2019. MGM also owns U.S. regional assets, which represented 29% of 2019 EBITDAR. we estimate MGM's U.S. sports and iGaming operations are currently a mid-single-digit percentage of its total revenue. The company also operates the 56%-owned MGM Macau casinos with a new property that opened on the Cotai Strip in early 2018. Further, we estimate MGM will open a resort in Japan in 2027.
Read more on MGM →