Expeditors International of Washington’s EXPD fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.68 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43. The bottom line increased 54.1% year over year, owing to strong growth in air tonnage and ocean volumes. Total revenues of $3 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.62 billion and increased 29.7% year over year.
Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Airfreight tonnage and ocean container volume increased 11% and 14%, respectively, year over year. We expected airfreight tonnage to increase 11.7% from fourth-quarter 2023 actuals.
Operating income increased 51% year over year to $301 million. Total operating expenses increased 24% to $2.65 billion.
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. Quote
Airfreight Services revenues increased 22.7% year over year to $1.06 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. Ocean freight and ocean services revenues surged 77.5% to $908.4 million. Customs Brokerage and other services revenues increased 9.3% year over year to $983.2 million.
In the fourth quarter of 2024, Expeditors repurchased 2 million shares at an average price of $120.14 per share. EXPD returned $1.1 billion to its shareholders through stock repurchases and dividends in 2024. This was the third consecutive year that the transportation company returned more than $1 billion of capital to its shareholders.
EXPD exited 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $1.15 billion compared with $1.51 billion in 2023-end.
EXPD’s Zacks Rank
Expeditors currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q4 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 56 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.85 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.76. Earnings increased 44.5% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.
DAL’s revenues of $15.56 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.99 billion and increased 9.4% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong holiday travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.44 billion, up 5.7% year over year. Passenger revenues, which accounted for 82.4% of total revenues, increased 5% year over year to $12.82 billion.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT posted fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $1.53, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.62. However, the bottom line increased 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3.15 billion narrowly beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.13 billion but declined 4.8% year over year. The decrease was mainly due to lower fuel surcharge revenues and yield pressure in its Intermodal segment.
JBHT’s fourth-quarter 2024 operating revenues of $2.78 billion, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, decreased 2% from the year-ago reported quarter. Total operating income for the reported quarter increased 2% year over year to $207 million.
United Airlines UAL reported solid fourth-quarter 2024 results, with both earnings and revenues surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings per share (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.26 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.01. The bottom line increased 63% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure exceeded the company’s guided range of $2.50-$3.
Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and Sells
We're not kidding.
Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent.
Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators,and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone.
See Stocks Now >>Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
