Back to top

Image: Bigstock

C.H. Robinson (CHRW) Q2 Earnings Miss, Revenues Top Estimates

Read MoreHide Full Article

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.'s (CHRW - Free Report) second-quarter 2017 earnings per share of 78 cents fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12 cents. Moreover, earnings decreased 22% year over year due to higher costs and lacklustre performance of the truckload division. The bottom-line miss disappointed investors, leading to a decline in the stock price in after-market trading on Jul 19.

Total revenue rose 12.43% year over year to $3,710 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,590 million. Notably, volume growth across all its transportation services drove the top line. 

Total operating expenses increased 8.7% year over year to $391.97 million, resulting in an operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of net revenue) of 68.3% compared with 60.7% in the year-ago quarter.

From fourth-quarter 2016, the company has been reporting under three segments – North American Surface Transportation (NAST), Global Forwarding and Robinson Fresh. While total revenue at NAST was $2.4 billion in the reported quarter (up 10.3% year over year), revenues at Global Forwarding totaled $528.8 million (up 48.2%) and at Robinson Fresh was $657 million (down 0.5%).

A historical presentation of results on an enterprise basis is given below:

Transportation: The unit (comprising Truckload, Intermodal, Less-than-Truckload, Ocean, Air, Customs and Other logistics services) posted net revenue of $538.6 million in the reported quarter, down 3.2% from the year-ago quarter.

Truckload net revenue declined 14.3% year over year to $282.7 million. Meanwhile, net revenue at Less-than-Truckload increased 2.4% year over year to $102.2 million.

Net revenue at the Intermodal segment declined 7.9% year over year to $8.3 million as the presence of alternative lower cost trucks hurt Intermodal opportunities.

Net revenue at the Ocean transportation segment rose 22.3% year over year to $73.4 million. The same at the Air transportation division increased 28.3% year over year to $25.8 million. Customs net revenue advanced 40.6% to $16.3 million.

Net revenue at Other logistics services increased 17.2% year over year to $28.1 million on the back of growth in managed services.

Sourcing: Net revenue at the segment rose 6.8% year over year to approximately $35.15 million.

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. Quote

Liquidity

C.H. Robinson exited the reported quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $273.2 million compared with $247.7 million at the end of 2016. Long-term debt was $750 million at the end of the quarter compared with $500 million recorded at the end of 2016. Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Releases

Investors interested in the broader transportation sector also keenly await second-quarter earnings reports from key players like Kansas City Southern , Canadian National Railway Company (CNI - Free Report) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC - Free Report) in the coming days. While Kansas City Southern is scheduled to report on Jul 21, Canadian National and Norfolk Southern are scheduled to report on Jul 25 and Jul 26, respectively.

3 Top Picks to Ride the Hottest Tech Trend

Zacks just released a Special Report to guide you through a space that has already begun to transform our entire economy.

Last year, it was generating $8 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $47 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for those who make the right trades early. Download Report with 3 Top Tech Stocks >>

Published in