J.B. Hunt (JBHT) Q3 Earnings & Revenues Lag Estimates, Down Y/Y
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s JBHT third-quarter 2023 earnings per share of $1.80 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.85 and declined 30% year over year.
Total operating revenues of $3,163.8 million also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,224 million and fell 18% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, decreased 15% year over year. The downfall was due to a decline in revenue per load of 14% in Intermodal (JBI), 22% in Truckload (JBT), a 38% decline in volume in Integrated Capacity Solutions, a 20% decrease in stops in Final Miles Services, and a 1% decline in average revenue producing trucks in Dedicated Contract Services. These were partially offset by a 1% increase in JBI volumes and a 6% increase in JBT loads versus the year-ago period.
Operating income for the third quarter decreased 33% year over yearto $241.7 million, owing to lower revenues across all business segments, higher equipment-related costs, and higher insurance and claims expenses compared with the year-ago reported quarter. Additionally, the third quarter of 2023 included an $8 million net loss from the sale of equipment.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Quote
Segmental Highlights
Intermodal division generated quarterly revenues of $1.56 billion, down 15% year over year, owing to a 16% decrease in gross revenue per load, resulting from changes in the mix of freight, customer rates, and fuel surcharge revenues. Revenue per load, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, fell 14% year over year. Eastern network loads declined 3%, while transcontinental loads increased 4%.
Operating income fell 41% in the third quarter owing to lower revenues, which was partially offset by the resulting impact of absorbing network and equipment costs with higher volume.
Dedicated Contract Services segment revenues fell 4% from the year-ago period to $892 million due to a 2% decrease in productivity (revenue per truck per week) versus the prior period.
Operating income fell 4% year over yeardue to the higher equipment-related costs, insurance and claims expenses, and a net $6.7 million year-over-year increase in loss on the sale of equipment. These were partially offset by the maturing of new businesses onboarded over the trailing twelve months.
Integrated Capacity Solutions revenues decreased 48% year over year to $298 million. Segmental volumes decreased 38%. Revenue per load fell 17% owing to lower contractual and transactional rates and changes in customer freight mix.
JBHT reported an operating loss of $9.4 million in the reported quarter compared with operating income of $13.4 million in the year-ago reported quarter. The loss was owing to lower gross profit, partially offset by lower personnel and technology costs.
Truckload revenues fell 17% to $196 million. Excluding fuel surcharge revenues, segmental revenues fell 18% owing to a 22% decline in segment gross revenue per load, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, partially offset by a 6% increase in load volume. At the third-quarter end, total tractors and trailers were 1,989 and 15,031 compared with the year-ago quarter’s figures of 2,140 and 13,751, respectively.
Operating income fell 48% year over year to $7.7 million due to a decline in revenues.
Final Mile Services revenues fell 15% year over year to $226 million due to general weakness in demand across many of the industry verticals served.
Operating income increased 33% year over year on the back of internal efforts to improve revenue quality and manage costs.
Liquidity & Buyback
J.B. Hunt exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $75.19 million compared with $295.92 million at the end of second-quarter 2023. Long-term debt was $1,195.70 million compared with $1,195.30 million at the second-quarter end.
In the third quarter of 2023, JBHT purchased almost 267,000 shares for $51 million. As of Sep 30, 2023, JBHT had approximately $416 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.
Currently, J.B. Hunt carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Upcoming Releases
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector slated to release their third-quarter 2023 earnings are Kirby Corporation KEX, Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, operating as Wabtec Corporation (WAB) and Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL). Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
KEX has an expected earnings growth rate of 56.92% for third-quarter 2023. KEX delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.03%, on average. KEX will release results on Oct 26.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KEX’s third-quarter 2023 revenues is pegged at $794.60 million, indicating growth of 6.54% year over year.
Wabtec has an expected earnings growth rate of 19.67% for the current year. WAB delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.42%, on average. WAB has a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.66%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WAB’s current-year earnings has improved 4.9% over the past 90 days. WAB will release results on Oct 25.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ODFL’s third-quarter 2023 earnings has been revised upward by 1.4% in the past 90 days. ODFL has a long-term earnings growth rate of 8.60%. ODFL will release results on Oct 25.
ODFL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 3.86%, on average. Shares of ODFL have gained 50% year to date.
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J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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