UPDATE: Southwest Airlines Q2 Profit Up 42%

Southwest Airlines Co LUV reported a 42% surge in its second-quarter earnings. Southwest's quarterly earnings rose to $228 million, or $0.30 per share, from $161 million, or $0.21 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding other items, Southwest's adjusted profit came in at $0.36 per share. Its operating revenue gained 12% to $4.62 billion. However, analysts were expecting a profit of $0.32 per share on revenue of $4.58 billion. Its traffic gained 5.1% y/y, while capacity surged 5.6%. Southwest shares closed at $9.42 yesterday.