Shares of Southwest Airlines plunged more than 9 percent in morning trading on Thursday after the Dallas-based airline warned investors that its costs are starting to go up, even though its had record third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street’s expectations.
Southwest said it expects fuel costs to range $2.35 to $2.40 a gallon year next year, above its third-quarter fuel bill. It’s also higher than what it originally thought it would be paying for fuel in the fourth quarter.
Even when stripping out fuel and some other expected costs, its operating expenses rose 7 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier and that this could rise as much as 1 percent in the last three months of 2018, the company said.
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