Southwest Airlines has been in damage-control mode since its December holiday meltdown, working to defend its reputation. Now, that episode has an actual price tag.

Driving the news: The airline said today the snafu cost it $800 million in the fourth quarter (around $620 million on an after-tax basis), driving it to a net Q4 loss, Axios' Pete Gannon writes.

• And it expects to take another $300 million to $350 million hit to revenue for the current quarter as well: Canceled return trips from those nixed flights bled into January, and bookings are lower than usual for February, it said.

Southwest's stock closed down 3.2% today. It has been steadily recovering since falling 10.8% in the middle of the chaos in late December.

Flashback: The airline canceled 16,700 flights between Dec. 21 to 31, stemming from extreme winter storms grounding flights, exacerbated after its scheduling systems got overwhelmed by the deluge of flight changes.

The big picture: Southwest has a strong reputation, a fact noted by both executives and analysts on its earnings call today. And its efforts since the December debacle to defend it appear to be working.

• Between public apologies, the airline has been concentrating on customer refunds and reimbursements for those affected.
• And it is confident that business will be back to normal in March.

What they're saying: "The good thing is our customers are very loyal, and we're seeing that," CEO Bob Jordan said on the call.

• "We had a sale recently. That sale went really well. "We're seeing our customers redeem [rewards vouchers] quickly at an even faster than typical rate for something like that, this gesture of goodwill."

The bottom line: Despite the Q4 loss, Southwest reported a full-year net income of $539 million for 2022. And it said today that it expects March 2023 managed business revenues to be roughly restored to March 2019 levels.

• Southwest is telling investors it sees clear skies ahead.

🛁 Bed Bath & Beyond said banks have cut off its credit lines. (WSJ)

💻 Chip giant Intel posted weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and a financial outlook that fell well short of expectations. (Axios)

📞 Adani Group held a call with bondholders to refute allegations made by a short seller, and it plans a detailed response Friday. (Bloomberg)

Toyota is shaking things up at the top, Nathan writes.

• Akio Toyoda is stepping down as CEO, assuming the chairman role amid questions about whether the automaker has moved quickly enough on electric vehicles.

Why it matters: Toyota is a powerful force in the auto industry, ranking as the best-selling automaker in the world in 2021.

Driving the news: Toyota announced the shakeup Thursday morning, saying that Koji Sato, president of its Lexus luxury brand, will become CEO.

• As the grandson of Toyota founder Kiichiro Toyoda, Akio Toyoda has led the company's transition from mostly passenger cars to more profitable SUVs and pickups.

Be smart: Toyota is working on EVs behind the scenes, so the change in leadership may reflect a generational handoff more than a change in strategy.

Go deeper.

Hollywood could learn a lesson or two from Canadian director Kyle Edward Ball, Nathan writes.

• Ball made his experimental horror film “Skinamarink" on a $15,000 budget — and it's already fetched more than $1.5 million at the box office in just over a week, CNBC reports.

State of play: “Skinamarink" has been a social media sensation, drawing comparisons to the low-budget, found-footage classic “The Blair Witch Project” from the 1990s.

• Shudder, a streaming service owned by AMC Networks that focuses on horror films, bought the streaming rights to “Skinamarink" and will debut it on Feb. 2.

What it's about: The plot "centers on two children who discover their father has disappeared, along with all the doors and windows of the home," CNBC says.

"There’s a trust gap between some in philanthropy and the leadership of Black women and Black gender expansive folks."