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Werner Shares Down 2% on Q3 Earnings & Revenues Miss

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Shares of Werner Enterprises, Inc. (WERN - Free Report) have lost 2% since its third-quarter 2024 earnings release on Oct. 29, 2024.  The downside was owing to the disappointing third-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterlyearnings of 15 cents per share lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents and declined 64.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on ZacksEarnings Calendar.

Total revenues of $745.7 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $787.5 million and dipped 8.8% on a year-over-year basisdue to a $49.4 million, or 9% decrease in Truckload Transportation Services (TTS) revenues and a $23.5 million, or 10% decline in Logistics revenues.

Werner Enterprises, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Werner Enterprises, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Werner Enterprises, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Werner Enterprises, Inc. Quote

Adjusted operating income of $21.6 million decreased 48% year over year. Adjusted operating margin of 2.9% declined 220 basis points from the year-ago reported quarter.

Segmental Results

Revenues in the TTS segment fell 9% on a year-over-year basis to $522.8 million due to lower fuel surcharge revenues. Adjusted operating income of $24.5 million fell 41% year over year owing to lower gains on the sale of property and equipment (down 69%) and a smaller fleet size. Adjusted operating margin of 4.7% declined 260 basis points.

Logistics’ revenues totaled $206.8 million, down 10% year over year. Adjusted operating income of $804 million fell 75% from the year-ago reported quarter. Adjusted operating margin decreased 100 basis points year over year to 0.4%.

Liquidity

As of Sept. 30, 2024, Werner had cash and cash equivalents of $54.66 million compared with $70.44 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt (net of current portion) totaled $690 million at the end of the reported quarter compared with $660 million at the prior-quarter end.

The company generated $61 million of cash from operations in third-quarter 2024. Net capital expenditure amounted to$87.9 million.

WERN did not repurchase any shares during the third quarter of 2024. As of Sept. 30, 2024, WERN had 3.9 million shares remaining under its share repurchase authorization.

Outlook

For 2024, Werner still anticipates TTS truck growth to decline in the range of 8-6% (prior view: decline 6-3%).

Net capital expenditure is now estimated to be in the range of $240-$260 million (prior view: $225-$275 million).

Under the TTS guidance, WERN projects dedicated revenues per truck per week growth to rise from breakeven to 3% in 2024. One-way Truckload revenues per total mile are predicted to improve from breakeven to 3% (prior view: decline from breakeven to 3%).

Werner expects the average truck age to be two years for 2024, while the trailer age is forecasted to be five years.

Full-year 2024 tax rate is anticipated to be in the range of 25.5%-26.5% (prior view: 24.5%-25.5%).

WERN’s Zacks Rank

Currently, Werner carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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 - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 47 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.50 per share, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.56. Earnings decreased 26.11% on a year-over-year basis, mainly due to high labor costs.

DAL’s revenues of $15.68 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.37 billion and increased 1.2% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.59 billion, flat year over year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT - Free Report) third-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.49 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 but declined 17.2% year over year.

JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3.07 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.04 billion but fell 3% year over year. The downfall was owing to a 5% and 6% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a decline in load volume of 10% and 6% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), respectively, and 6% fewer stops in Final Mile Services (FMS). These were partially offset by JBI load growth of 5%, which included growth in both the transcontinental and eastern networks and a 3% increase in revenue per load in ICS. JBHT’s total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased less than 1% from the year-ago reported quarter.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2024 EPS (excluding 43 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.33, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.10. Earnings decreased 8.8% on a year-over-year basis.

UAL’s operating revenues of $14.84 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.76 billion. The top line increased 2.5% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 1.6% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 91.3% of the top line) to $13.56 billion. Almost 45,559 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the third quarter, up 2.7% year over year.

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