J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s (JBHT Quick QuoteJBHT - Free Report) second-quarter 2023 earnings of $1.81 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.97 and declined 25.2% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3,132.6 million also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,347.5 million and fell 18.4% year over year. The downfall was due to a decline in revenue per load of 24% in Integrated Capacity Solutions, 13% in Intermodal, 21% in Truckload, and a 4% decline in productivity in Dedicated Capacity Solutions, on the back of changes in customer rate, freight mix and lower fuel surcharge revenue.

Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, decreased 14% year over year.

Operating income for the second quarter decreased 23% year over year to $270.7 million, owing to lower revenue across all the business segments, lower volumes and customer rates.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. Quote

Net interest expense for the second quarter increased 14% year over year due to higher effective interest rates.

Operating expenses fell 17.9% to $2,861.91 million.

Segmental Highlights

Intermodal division generated quarterly revenues of $1.49 billion, down 19% year over year, owing to a 7% decrease in volume and a 13% decrease in gross revenue per load, resulting from changes in the mix of freight, customer rates and fuel surcharge revenues. Revenue per load, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell 7% year over year. Eastern network loads declined 6%, while transcontinental loads fell 8%.

Operating income fell 29% year over year in the second quarter due to lower customer rates and volume and the resulting impact on absorbing network and equipment costs.

Dedicated Contract Services segment revenues fell 2% from the year-ago period to $888 million due to a 4% decrease in productivity (revenue per truck per week) versus the prior period.

Operating income grew 21% year over year due to the maturing of new business onboarded over the trailing 12 months. This benefit was partially offset by higher professional driver and non-driver wages and benefits and equipment-related and maintenance expenses.

Integrated Capacity Solutions revenues decreased 43% year over year to $344 million. Segmental volumes decreased 26%. Revenue per load fell 24% owing to lower contractual and transactional rates and changes in customer freight mix.

JBHT reported an operating loss of $4.4 million against the operating income of $23.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The loss wasdue to lower gross profit, partially offset by lower personnel and insurance-related expenses and reduced technology costs.

Truckload revenues fell 16% to $192 million. Excluding fuel surcharge revenues, segmental revenues fell 15%, primarily owing to a 20% decline in revenue per load, partially offset by a 6% increase in load volume. At the second-quarter end, total tractors and trailers were 2,068 and 15,358 compared with the year-ago quarter’s figures of 2,015 and 12,770, respectively.

Operating income fell 81% year over year to $3.8 million due to a decline in revenues.

Final Mile Services revenues fell 19% year over year to $224 million due to general weakness in demand across many of the industry verticals served.

Operating income increased 12% year over year on the back of internal efforts to improve revenue quality and manage costs.

Liquidity & Buyback

J.B. Hunt exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $295.92 million compared with $52.60 million at the first quarter of 2023-end. Long-term debt was $1,195.30 million compared with $991.71million at the end of first-quarter 2023.

Net capital expenditures for the second quarter were $473.94 million compared with $308.96 million in the year-ago period.

In the second quarter of 2023, JBHT purchased almost 315,000 shares for $53 million. As of Jun 30, 2023, JBHT had approximately $467 million remaining under its share repurchase authorization.

Currently, J.B. Hunt carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Upcoming Releases

Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector slated to release their second-quarter 2023earnings.

Copa Holdings, S.A. (CPA Quick QuoteCPA - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.82% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). CPA will release results on Aug 9. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Copa Holdings has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for second-quarter 2023. CPA delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 14.60%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPA’s second-quarter 2023 earnings has been revised upward by 94% in the past 90 days.

American Airlines (AAL Quick QuoteAAL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.94% and a Zacks Rank #3. AAL will release results on Jul 20.

American Airlines has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for second-quarter 2023. AAL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 12.90%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL’s second-quarter 2023 earnings has been revised upward by 50.9% in the past 90 days.

Alaska Air (ALK Quick QuoteALK - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +0.72% and a Zacks Rank #3. ALK will release results on Jul 25.

Alaska Air has an expected earnings growth rate of 21% for second-quarter 2023.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALK’s second-quarter 2023 earnings has been revised upward by 36.1% in the past 90 days.