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Why Is ZTO Express Cayman (ZTO) Down 4.7% Since Last Earnings Report?

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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc. (ZTO - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 4.7% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is ZTO Express Cayman due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

ZTO Express Q1 Earnings Up Y/Y

ZTO Express’ first-quarter 2024 earnings of 37 cents per share improved year over year. Total revenues of $1.37 billion improved year over year.

Detailed Operational Statistics

Revenue from the core express delivery business surged 11% year over year owing to a 13.9% increase in parcel volume and a 2.5% decrease in parcel unit price. KA revenue including delivery fees from direct sales organizations, established to serve core express KA customers, decreased by 7.1% as a result of mix shift towards higher-value customers.

Revenue from freight forwarding services grew 5.2% year over year.

Revenue from sales of accessories, largely consisted of sales of thermal paper used for digital waybills' printing, climbed 31.5%. Other revenues were mainly derived from financing services.

Revenues from the core express delivery business jumped 8% year over year owing to 32% increase in parcel volume and a 18.2% decrease in parcel unit price. Parcel volume market share increased 32% from the year-ago reported quarter.

Gross profit improved 19% from the year-ago reported quarter on the back of revenue growth and cost productivity gain. Gross margin rate improved to 30.1% from 28.1% in the year-ago period.

Total operating expenses came in at RMB735.4 million ($101.8 million) compared with RMB573.0 million in the year-ago period.

ZTO Express exited the first quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of RMB12.58billion compared with RMB 12.33 billion at the end of December 2023.

2024 Guidance

ZTO Express continues to expect parcel volumes for 2024 in the range of 34.73 - 35.64 billion. The guidance represents an increase of 15-18% year over year.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

Analysts were quiet during the last two month period as none of them issued any earnings estimate revisions.


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