UPDATE: Southwest Airlines Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates

Southwest Airlines Co

reported a strong rise in its fourth-quarter profit. Southwest's quarterly profit surged to $212 million, or $0.30 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $78 million, or $0.11 per share. Excluding certain items, its profit climbed to $0.33 per share from $0.09 per share. Its operating revenue jumped to $4.43 billion versus $4.18 billion. However, analysts were projecting earnings of $0.29 per share on revenue of $4.38 billion. Southwest shares gained 2.34% to $22.28 in pre-market trading.