United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) first-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $1.43 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.33 but declined 35% year over year. Revenues of $21,706 million fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21,960.6 million and decreased 5.3% year over year.

United Parcel Service, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise United Parcel Service, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

United Parcel Service, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | United Parcel Service, Inc. Quote

UPS generated $3,316 million of net cash from operating activities in the first quarter. Capital expenditures were $1,035 million. Free cash flow was $2,280 million.

U.S. Domestic Package revenues decreased 5% year over year to $14,234 million, caused by a3.2% decrease in average daily volume. The actual figure was lower than our estimate of $14,595 million. Segmental operating profit (adjusted) plunged 43.6% year over year to $839 million. The adjusted operating margin for the segment was 5.9%.

Revenues at the International Package division summed $4,256 million, down 6.3% year over year. The downfall was due to a 5.8% decrease in average daily volume. The actual figure was lower than our estimate of $4,425.2 million. Segmental operating profit (adjusted) totaled $682 million, down 15.4% year over year. The adjusted operating margin for the segment was 16%.

Supply Chain Solutions revenues of $3,216 million fell 5.3% year over year due to market rate declines in forwarding.The actual figure was higher than our estimate of $3,042.6 million. Operating profit (on an adjusted basis) tumbled 12.4% to $226 million. The adjusted operating margin for the segment was 7%.

2024 Outlook

For 2024, UPS continues to anticipate revenues in the range of $92-$94.5 billion and consolidated adjusted operating margin to lie between 10% and 10.6%.

Capital expenditures are still anticipated to be around $4.5 billion.

Currently, UPS carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines DAL reported first-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 39 cents from non-recurring items) of 45 cents per share, which comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents. Earnings increased 80% on a year-over-year basis.

Revenues of $13.75 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12.84 billion and increased 7.75% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong air-travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $12.56 billion, up 6% year over year.



United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL)reported first-quarter 2024 loss per share (excluding 23 cents from non-recurring items) of 15 cents, which was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate loss of 53 cents. In the year-ago reported quarter, UAL reported a loss of 63 cents per share.

Operating revenues of $12,539 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12,428.4 million. The top line increased 9.7% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 10.1% rise in passenger revenues (accounting for 90.2% of the top line) to $11,313 million. Almost 39,325 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the first quarter, up 6.8% year over year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s JBHT first-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.22 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.53 and declined 35.5% year over year.

JBHT’s total operating revenues of $2,944 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,117.1 million and fell 8.8% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell 7% year over year. The downfall was owing to a 9% decrease in segment gross revenue per load in both Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), 22% fewer loads in Integrated Capacity Solution (ICS), and a modest decline in average trucks and productivity in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS). Revenue declines in JBI, ICS, JBT and DCS were partially offset by Final Mile Services (FMS) revenue growth of 2%, primarily driven by new contracts implemented over the past year.

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