Southwest Airlines Co vs QUALCOMM, Inc. — how do they compare? Southwest Airlines Co trades at $44.95 (market cap $22.27B), while QUALCOMM, Inc. trades at $162.72 (market cap $170.81B). The key difference: QUALCOMM, Inc. is far larger — about 7.7× Southwest Airlines Co's market cap, and QUALCOMM, Inc. pays the higher dividend (2.26%). Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| LUV | QCOM | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $22.27B | $170.81B |
Sector | Industrials | Technology |
52-Week High | $54.80 | $251.10 |
52-Week Low | $29.67 | $124.07 |
Enterprise Value | $25.37B | $177.78B |
Dividend Yield | 1.58% | 2.26% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Southwest Airlines (LUV) trades at $44.91, showing minimal daily movement. The stock exhibits a bearish technical trend, with key support at $45 and resistance at $46. Fundamentally, revenue grew to $28.06B in 2025, though net income margin compressed to 1.57%. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $0.94 versus $0.51 expected, while Q1 2026 missed. The company maintains a dividend of $0.18 per share and is focusing on business travel expansion.
LUV presents a mixed outlook. Analyst consensus is a Buy with a $53.86 price target, implying ~20% upside, supported by earnings rebound and strategic initiatives. However, risks include fuel cost volatility, competitive pressures, and bearish technical indicators. Investors should weigh solid liquidity and growth initiatives against margin pressures and macroeconomic sensitivities.
Qualcomm (QCOM) trades at $162.17, down 3.39% on the day, with mixed technical signals showing bearish moving averages but neutral oscillators. The company reported strong revenue of $44.28B in 2025 but saw net income decline to $5.54B, reflecting margin pressures. Recent news highlights Qualcomm's AI and data center expansion efforts, including the 'Dragonfly' AI platform announcement at COMPUTEX 2026, while facing increased competition from Nvidia in the PC chip market.
The outlook remains balanced with a consensus price target of $200.56 suggesting 24% upside, but near-term headwinds include smartphone market softness and margin compression. Long-term growth drivers in automotive and AI inference markets provide opportunity, though execution risks and competitive threats from chip rivals pose challenges for shareholder value.
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 →Qualcomm develops and licenses wireless technology and designs chips for smartphones. The company's key patents revolve around CDMA and OFDMA technologies, which are standards in wireless communications that are the backbone of all 3G and 4G networks. The firm is a leader in 5G network technology as well. Qualcomm's IP is licensed by virtually all wireless device makers. The firm is also the world's largest wireless chip vendor, supplying nearly every premier handset maker with leading-edge processors. Qualcomm also sells RF-front end modules into smartphones and chips into automotive and Internet of Things markets.
Read more on QCOM →