Earnings Watch: Landstar, Forward Air, Hub Group, TFI, Patriot and Echo Global
At a time when many publicly held trucking companies are reporting lower, if not sharply lower, first quarter profits, one stood out among the herd of numbers released Wednesday while another saw a slight improvement in earnings.
Landstar System Inc. reported a couple of records on Wednesday as it announced first quarter profits amid what it described as a soft freight rate environment
Record first quarter earnings per share were 77 cents compared to 66 cents a year earlier while first quarter revenue also set a record of $781 million versus $711.6 million a year earlier.
Net income in the first three months of 2017 totaled $32.4 million, a 11% improvement from the same time last year.
The number of loads hauled via truck during the 2017 first quarter was also higher than any first quarter in Landstar history. The asset-light company also moves freight via railroads, ocean cargo carriers and air cargo carriers.
“As expected, the pricing environment for our truckload services continued to be soft in the 2017 first quarter, as industry-wide truck capacity continued to be readily available,” said Jim Gattoni, president and CEO. “However, the percentage change in year-over-year revenue per load on loads hauled via truck improved each month. Moreover, in February, the company experienced its first year-over-year monthly increase in truck revenue per load in two years.”
He said Landstar has experienced consistent load growth in loads hauled via truck throughout the 2017 first quarter and into the first several weeks of April.
“I expect that trend to continue and therefore expect the number of loads hauled via truck in the 2017 second quarter to increase in a mid to upper single digit range over the 2016 second quarter,” Gattoni said.
He said he also expects pricing conditions for truck services in the 2017 second quarter will continue to be soft …Read the rest of this story
