In late June, Southwest Airlines celebrated its 30th Anniversary of being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and our CEO, Gary Kelly, and several other Officers were in New York to celebrate and ring the bell!
For those of you who may not know, our ticker symbol is "LUV," which is appropriate for us at Southwest as we do everything with a big heart.
Since June 27, 1977 (when our stock was first traded on the New York Exchange), Southwest stock has split 13 times. So what would this mean to you if you had invested in a maverick airline that was known for crazy antics and hot pants?
If you had purchased one share of stock way back when in 1977, your investment today would be worth approximately $3,800 (using the closing price on August 1, 2007).
Many of our Employees did just that, and now we have millionaires working at Southwest. Don't be surprised the next time you are on a flight and see one of our great Employees in action because you just may be talking with a millionaire. They are like you and me; however, they invested in a great Company, and the return on their investment surpassed their expectations.
Other little known facts about our financial info now and then:
|
|
1977 |
2007 |
| Total Net Income | $7,545,000 | $499,000,000* |
| Total Revenues | $49 million | $9.1 billion* |
| Total Employees | 892 | 33,195** |
| Total Aircraft | 10 | 489** |
| Total Cities Served | 9 | 63** |
| * - At year-end 2006. | ||
| ** - At first quarter 2007. | ||
We have come a long way baby!
Comments
Some amazing numbers aren't they?
Good work southwest employees keep it up!
Yea, Southwest! That's great! Keep up the great work! I LUV SWA. :)
SWA is
So
Wonderfully
Awesome!
Hi,
maybe questions for Brian, as I'm sure he'll know!
:o)
what was the original share price back in 1977?
how many passengers did Southwest carry back in 1977 compared to today?
the Southwest story is still being written, and we will follow it with excitement
:o))
Raphael
Raphael,
I'm not sure of the original NYSE stock price, but I bet Edna can find out. In 1977, Southwest finished the year with ten aircraft, 892 Employees, and we carried just under 2.4 million Customers. We also opened five new cities that year, Corpus Christi, Lubbock, Midland/Odessa, El Paso, and Austin.
Nostalgic Blog Boy
Raphael,
Just wanted to let you know I'm researching your first question. I'll have to tap our Finance folks for this info. I should have some more info by the first of next week.
Edna
Hi Edna,
thanks so much for looking into it...
again sooo Southwest! it was definitely not mandatory
:o)
Raphael
Raphael,
I found out more info about our original stock price. It turns out the closing price for Southwest stock was $24.13 (on June 27, 1977).
By the way, I also found out more interesting info on how the stock is valued today. It turns out the closing price on August 1, 2007 was $15.77.
You may be wondering how could this be the case??
But, you have to read in between the lines to get the overall picture. LetÃ
Hi Edna,
thank you so much for researching this!
It does make me wish I'd invested in SWA stock back then (if only I'd been born!)
:o)
I presume that with the dividends paid yearly as well the value you could have got out of the stocks purchased in 1977 would be considerably higher... especially if you had then re-invested in SWA shares!
:o))
Raphael,
Imagine the return Herb has gotten on his original $20,000 he put into this airline!
New and improved,
now in 32 colors,
underneath around the corner over there!
Ding! boy
joe
Hi Joe!
... however, if you look over the last 30 years and count all the late nights and weekends that Herb has spent in the office working to make Southwest the great airline it is today, I'm pretty sure he earnt every single cent of that wad of cash he has made!
Plus all the crazy stuff he's had to do, like arm-wrestling other CEO's etc... does that include danger money?
:o))
Raphael
*upgraded to 256 colours
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