Shipping giant UPS reported better-than-expected third-quarter results
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UPS reported quarterly results that beat Wall Street expectations in terms of revenue and profits.
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The shipping giant’s cost-cutting measures — the company said it has cut nearly 50,000 jobs this year — helped boost profits.
United Parcel Service’s recovery plan appears to be working.
UPS (Universal Postal Union) shares rose 7% recently, trading at their highest levels in three months, after the shipping giant reported better-than-expected third-quarter results.
The Atlanta-based firm reported adjusted earnings of $1.74 per share on revenue that fell 3.7% year over year to $21.42 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha expected adjusted earnings per share to be $1.31 and revenue to fall further to $20.89 billion.
UPS handily beat Wall Street earnings expectations and outlined progress on its “Efficiency Reimagined” initiative, designed to streamline operations, reduce its workforce and close underutilized facilities. UPS issued fourth-quarter guidance after failing to do so last quarter amid economic uncertainty, indicating executives now believe the company is in a stronger position.
“We launched our Efficiency Reimagined initiatives to undertake the end-to-end process redesign effort that will align our organizational processes with network reconfiguration,” UPS said. “We have reduced our operational workforce by approximately 34,000 positions and closed daily operations in 93 owned and leased buildings during the first nine months of 2025 as a component of this initiative.” The company also said it has eliminated 14,000 management positions this year.
UPS’s measures are more aggressive than those outlined by the company in April, when it said it planned to eliminate about 20,000 employees from its operational workforce and close about 70 facilities this year. UPS said Tuesday that it has achieved year-to-date cost savings of about $2.2 billion as a result of its initiatives, and expects to end 2025 with savings of $3.5 billion compared to the previous year.
UPS, which last quarter did not provide a revenue or earnings forecast “given the current macroeconomic uncertainty,” predicted revenue of $24 billion in the fourth quarter, one point above the Visible Alpha consensus.
It reset its full-year outlook in September, expecting revenue growth of 4% to 6% this fiscal year, and said it plans to spin off its freight business by June 2026.
UPS stock entered Tuesday down nearly 30% this year.
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