Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL Quick QuoteODFL - Free Report) ) reported solid first-quarter 2026 results, wherein its earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly earnings per share of $1.14 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.05 but dipped 4.2% year over year. The decrease in ODFL’s revenue and an increase in operating ratio resulted in a year-over-year decline in the bottom line in the first quarter.

Revenues of $1.33 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.31 billion but decreased 2.9% year over year. The downside in ODFL’s first-quarter revenues was owing to a 7.7% decrease in LTL tons per day, which was partially offset by an increase in ODFL’s LTL revenue per hundredweight. The decrease in LTL tons per day reflects the net impact of a 7.9% decrease in LTL shipments per day and a 0.3% increase in LTL weight per shipment.

LTL revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharges, grew 4.4% year over year owing to the company’s long-term, disciplined approach to yield management.

Revenues from LTL services came in at $1.32 billion (down 2.9% year over year). Other services revenues fell 8.7% year over year to $12.8 million.

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Quote

Marty Freeman, president and chief executive officer of Old Dominion, commented, “Old Dominion’s first quarter financial results reflect a continuation of encouraging trends that started developing late last year. While our first quarter revenue decreased on a year-over-year basis, demand for our LTL service improved as the quarter progressed. The improvement in demand, coupled with our ability to consistently deliver superior service to our customers, contributed to both the acceleration in our LTL volumes and improvement in our yield during the quarter. Our industry-leading service metrics for the first quarter once again included 99% on-time service and a claims ratio below 0.1%. These service standards form the foundation of our unmatched value proposition, which we believe will support our ability to win market share over the long term.”

Other Aspects of Q1 Earnings Report

In the quarter under review, LTL weight per shipment rose 0.3%, and LTL revenue per shipment inched up 5.9% year over year. LTL shipments and LTL shipments per day were both down 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. LTL revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharges, grew 4.4% year over year.

Total operating expenses declined 1.9% year over year to $1.02 billion. The operating income decreased 6.1% year over year to $317.34 million. Operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) increased to 76.2% from 75.4% in the year-ago quarter.

Old Dominion exited the March-end quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $288.08 million compared with $120.09 million at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt at the end of the first quarter of 2026 was $19.9 million, flat sequentially.

During the first quarter of 2026, Old Dominion rewarded its shareholders with $88.1 million through its share repurchases and paid $60.5 million in the form of dividend payments.

ODFL generated $373.6 million of net cash from operating activities during the first quarter of 2026. Capital expenditures were $62.6 million for the first quarter of 2026.

Outlook

For 2026, ODFL continues to anticipate its aggregate capital expenditures to be around $265 million, which includes planned expenditures of $125 million for real estate and service center expansion projects, $95 million for tractors and trailers and $45 million for information technology and other assets.

Currently, Old Dominion carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines (DAL Quick QuoteDAL - Free Report) reported first-quarter 2026 earnings (excluding $1.08 from non-recurring items) of 64 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents. Earnings increased 39.1% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs. Adjusted revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.2 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14 billion and increasing on a year-over-year basis. 

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL Quick QuoteUAL - Free Report) reported solid first-quarter 2026 results wherein the company’s earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as improved on a year-over-year basis.

UAL's first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 95 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.19 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 and increased 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $1.00-$1.50.

Operating revenues of $14.6 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.3 billion and increased 10.5% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.1% of the top line) increased 11% year over year to $13.1 billion. UAL flights transported 42,486 passengers in the first quarter, up 4.1% year over year.

Cargo revenues fell 1.6% year over year to $422 million. Revenues from other sources rose 10.5% year over year to $1.02 billion.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT Quick QuoteJBHT - Free Report)  posted first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.49, up 27% from $1.17 a year ago. The result topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.04, a 2.8% surprise.

Operating revenues totaled $3.06 billion, rising 4.6% year over year. Revenues beat the consensus mark of $2.94 billion, resulting in a 3.9% surprise, as demand proved resilient across several service offerings, led by Intermodal volume growth and higher revenue per load in select highway-related businesses.