JB Hunt Transport Services on Wednesday reported better-than-expected third-quarter results after the market closed, sending shares up 11.9% in after-hours trading.
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The multimodal transportation provider reported consolidated revenue of $3.05 billion, which was broadly flat year-over-year and slightly above a consensus estimate of $3.02 billion.
However, effective cost control drove operating income up 8% year over year and earnings per share up 18% to $1.76, 30 cents above analyst expectations. (A lower tax rate was a 3-cent tailwind to the EPS result.)
Margins improved year over year in JB Hunt’s (NASDAQ: JBHT) intermodal, dedicated and brokerage segments, with last mile and truckload seeing modest declines.
Intermodal revenues decreased 2% year-over-year as loads and freight revenues fell slightly. (Both loads and load revenue improved 3% sequentially.)
The unit reported an operating ratio of 91.8% (inverse of operating margin), which was 100 basis points better than the prior-year quarter and 150 basis points better than the second quarter. The company attributed the improvement to better network balance and fewer empty movements.
Dedicated revenue increased 2% year over year, as a 3% increase in revenue per truck per week was only partially offset by a small decrease in the average number of trucks. The segment recorded an OR of 87.9%, which was 80 bps better year-on-year (100 bps better sequentially).
Operating losses at the company’s brokerage operations narrowed in the quarter to $752,000.
JB Hunt will host a call at 5 pm EDT on Wednesday to discuss third quarter results.
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