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J.B. Hunt (JBHT) Q2 Earnings & Revenues Beat on Higher Volumes

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J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT - Free Report) reported better-than-expected second-quarter 2021 results. Quarterly earnings of $1.61 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.55. The bottom line surged 41.2% year over year due to higher revenues across all segments.

Total operating revenues of $2908.4 million outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2722 million and also jumped 35.5% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, rose approximately 31.2% year over year. The top line was driven by robust performances across all segments.

Quarterly operating income (on a reported basis) climbed 38% to $241.5 million, driven by higher volumes and productivity, among other factors. Meanwhile, operating expenses rose 35.3%.

Segmental Highlights

Intermodal division generated quarterly revenues of $1.29 billion, up 21% year over year. Volumes increased 6% year over year with eastern network volumes and transcontinental volumes rising 9% and 3%, respectively. Operating income increased 26% year over year to $134.64 million

Dedicated Contract Services segment revenues rose 17% from the year-ago period to $621 million owing to fleet productivity improvement and increase in average revenue producing trucks. However, operating income declined 5% to $79 million.  

Integrated Capacity Solutions revenues skyrocketed more than 100% year over year to $607 million. Segmental volumes climbed 20% from the year-ago period with truckload volumes increasing 30%. Revenue per load soared 66% owing to favorable customer freight mix as well as higher contractual and spot rates. The segment’s operating income was $3.1 million in the reported quarter, against an operating loss of $13.1 million in the second quarter of 2020.

Final Mile Services revenues surged 52% year over year to $212 million due to the addition of multiple customer contracts implemented over the last year. Notably, the year-ago period was characterized by temporary suspension of operations due to coronavirus-led woes. The segment’s operating income was $10.7 million in the reported quarter, against an operating loss of $5.2 million in the year-ago period. Operating income benefited from higher volumes in the quarter.

Truck revenues were up 70% to $184 million. Excluding fuel surcharge revenues, Truck revenues rose 66% year over year due to 58% increase in revenue per load and 5% rise in load count. At the end of the second quarter, total tractors and trailers were 1,770 and 8,958, respectively, compared with the respective year-ago quarter’s figures of 1,897 and 7,985. Meanwhile, operating income soared more than 300% to $14.2 million.

Liquidity & Buyback

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $570.92 million compared with $313.3 million at the end of 2020. Long-term debt was $1.30 billion compared with $1.31 billion at 2020-end. Net capital expenditures at the end of Jun 30, 2021 came to $261 million approximately compared with $265 million at the end of the same period in 2020.

During the reported quarter, J.B. Hunt repurchased around 484,000 shares for approximately $81 million. The company had approximately $416 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization at the end of the second quarter.

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

Upcoming Releases

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation - Truck industry are looking forward to second-quarter 2021 earnings reports from Knight-Swift Transportation (KNX - Free Report) , Landstar System (LSTR - Free Report) and Werner Enterprises (WERN - Free Report) . While Knight-Swift and Landstar will release earnings numbers on Jul 21, Werner will report the same on Jul 29.

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