Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR) reported disappointing third-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.41 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 and fell 17.5% year over year. The reported figure quarter lies within the guided range of $1.35-$1.55.
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Revenues of $1.21 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 billion and declined 5.8% year over year. The downside was owing to the weakness across the majority of its segments in the reported quarter. The reported figure quarter lies within the guided range of $1.175-$1.275 billion.
Landstar System, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Landstar System, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Landstar System, Inc. Quote
Landstar president and chief executive officer, Frank Lonegro, stated, “Consistent with the first half of 2024, the freight environment during the third quarter remained challenging. The Landstar team of independent business owners and employees continued to perform admirably given this backdrop.”
Operating income fell 21.4% from the prior-year quarter’s figure to $63.11 million. Total costs and expenses (on a reported basis) decreased 4.7% year over year to $1.15 billion.
LSTR’s Segmental Details
Total revenues in the truck transportation segment — contributing to 89.8% of the top line — amounted to $1.09 billion, down 7% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The reported figure was below our expectations of $1.12 billion.
Rail intermodal revenues of $20.97 million decreased 9% from the figure recorded in second-quarter 2023. The reported figure was below our expectations of $21.7 million.
Revenues in the ocean and air-cargo carrier segments improved 15.9% year over year to $76.34 million.
Other revenues decreased 4.7% year over year to $25.41 million. The reported figure was below our expectations of $28.1 million.
Liquidity, Dividends & Buyback
At the end of third-quarter 2024, Landstar had cash and cash equivalents of $468.83 million compared with $438.06million recorded at the prior-quarter end. Additionally, long-term debt (excluding current maturities) totaled $44.83 million at the end of the third quarter compared with $45.39 million at the prior-quarter end.
During the third quarter of 2024, Landstar purchased almost 121,000 shares for $22.4 million. LSTR is currently authorized to purchase up to an additional 2,563,081 shares under its longstanding share purchase program.
Landstar’s board of directorsdeclared a quarterly cash dividend of 36 cents per share, payable on Dec. 10, 2024, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Nov.19.
LSTR’s Fourth-Quarter 2024 Guidance
LSTR expects fourth-quarter revenues in the range of$1.150-$1.250 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.27 billion.
LSTR expects fourth-quarter 2024 truckloads to be down 4% to up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Truck revenue per load is likely to improve from breakeven to 4% on a year-over-year basis.
EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.25-$1.45 per share. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $1.59.
Effective income tax rate is expected to be 24.5%.
LSTR's Zacks Rank and Price Performance
Currently, Landstar carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Over the past six months, shares of LSTR have gained 4.7%, compared with the industry’s growth of 11.1%.
Six-Month Price Comparison
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Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL) 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.
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)third-quarter 2024 earnings of $1.49 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 but declined 17.2% year over year.
Total operating revenues of $3.07 billionsurpassed 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. Total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased less than 1% from the year-ago reported quarter.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL)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.
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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