Trucking fleet operator Knight-Swift Transportation easily beat views for its fourth quarter and gave strong guidance, while warning on inflationary costs. Knight-Swift stock fell on Wednesday.
Knight-Swift earnings come ahead of a busy reporting week for trucking companies, with ArcBest, Old Dominion, Saia, Landstar and Werner due to report.
Knight-Swift Earnings, Knight-Swift Stock
Estimates: Wall Street forecast that Knight-Swift would report earnings of $1.43 per share, up 52%, on revenue of $1.733 billion, a 36% gain, according to FactSet.
Results: Knight-Swift earnings climbed 71% to $1.61 per share . Revenue rose 42% to $1.817 billion. Each of Knight-Swift's business segments grew revenue while improving margins. Year over year, revenue grew 6% in truckload; 140% in logisitics; and 8% each in intermodal and less-than-truckload. The report included results of new acquisition MME within the less-than-truckload segment results, beginning Dec. 6.
Outlook: For 2022, the company forecast adjusted EPS of $5.10-$5.30. Analysts were expecting $5.02, FactSet said. The 2022 outlook assumes "inflationary pressure in most cost areas," the earnings release Wednesday said. Those areas include driver expenses, maintenance, equipment, and non-driving labor.
Knight-Swift stock fell 1.1% to 54.77 on the stock market today, falling further below the 50-day line. The stock has given up effectively all of its gains following an October breakout from what MarketSmith chart analysis plotted as a six-week flat base. The breakout followed the company's release of third-quarter results on Oct. 20. The reversal of those gains, and the fact that the stock in the process fell back below its 50-day/10-week moving average, triggered a pair of sell signals.
Last December, truckload leader Knight-Swift Transportation expanded in the less-than-truckload market by acquiring North Dakota-based Midwest Motor Express, or MME. It expects the move to add six cents to its 2022 earnings per share.
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The earnings report from Knight-Swift follows stronger-than-expected Q4 results from truck-maker Paccar Tuesday and J.B. Hunt last week.
The latter beat Wall Street estimates but flagged supply chain disruptions, including labor shortages from the pandemic. In addition, Covid-19 infections have worsened the industry's preexisting shortage of drivers.
J.B. Hunt is an IBD 50 stock.
On Tuesday, Paccar said it earned $1.47 per share for the fourth quarter, easily beating estimates. Sales of $6.296 billion also topped views. Sequentially, Q4 truck deliveries rose 45% on strong demand for new Kenworth, Peterbilt and DAF trucks, "reflecting an improvement in the global supply chain," the firm said in a news release.
As Knight-Swift stock fell, Paccar stock rose 2% Wednesday after rallying 3.1% to 93.95 on Tuesday. J.B. Hunt gained 0.8% and Oshkosh climbed 2.4%. Paccar stock rebounded further from a test of support at its 50-day moving average, as it attempts to move up the right side of a 53-week consolidation. Whereas Knight-Swift stock is trading well below its 50-day moving average, J.B. Hunt stock is struggling to hold support at its 50-day, in a shallow four-week consolidation.
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Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna.
