J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported higher first-quarter earnings, and company executives said they were seeing early signs of a recovery.
Quarterly earnings were $141.6 million, or $1.49 per share, which beat the consensus estimate of $1.45, and compared with $117.7 million, or $1.17 cents a year earlier. Quarterly revenue was up 5% to $3.056 billion.
“Continued regulatory enforcement to improve safety in our industry has removed noncompliant capacity, and when combined with early signs of improved demand, resulted in a tighter truckload market throughout the quarter,” said President and CEO Shelley Simpson. “While predicting inflection points is never precise, we believe we are on a path of recovery.”
Revenue at the Truckload segment increased 23% in the first quarter to $205 million, due to a 19% increase in load volume and a 3% gain in revenue per load, excluding fuel surcharge revenue.
“We experienced strong demand for our service offerings as a predominantly supply-driven freight recovery continued to gain steam, coupled with some modest improvements in demand,” said Chief Financial Officer Brad Delco.
Knight-Swift lowers quarterly earnings guidance, expects stronger Q2
Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings on April 16 said it expects first-quarter earnings to be between 8 cents and 10 cents a share, down from the previously announced range of 28 cents to 32 cents.
Knight-Swift cited several factors behind the lowered earnings guidance, including the impact from claims in its less-than-truckload segment, winter weather disruptions, and rising fuel prices.
Adam Miller, CEO of Knight-Swift, said that while winter weather hurt volumes and operating costs more than usual, “it also exposed the reduction in truckload capacity to all stakeholders, which is very meaningful for ongoing bid activity.”
Miller added that “we are more optimistic about the earnings opportunity for our businesses over the next several quarters than we were three months ago.”
The company also said adjusted earnings for the second quarter would be 45 cents to 49 cents a share.
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