Shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW Quick QuoteCHRW - Free Report) gained 8.95% in after-market trading on Jul 31, 2024.  The upside was owing to the encouraging second-quarter 2024 results, wherein both earnings and revenues showed improvement on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, CHRW’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly earnings of $1.15 per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 95 cents and improved 27.7% year over year. Total revenues of $4.483 billion marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.484 billion but improved 1.4% year over year owing to higher pricing in the company’s ocean services, partially offset by lower pricing in its truckload services.

Adjusted gross profit increased 3.3% year over year to $687.4 million, owing to higher adjusted gross profit per transaction in truckload and less than truckload (LTL) services.

Adjusted operating margin of 25.9% improved 600 basis points from the year-ago reported quarter.

Operating expenses decreased 4.4% year over year to $509.3 million.

C.H. Robinson's president and chief executive officer, Dave Bozeman, stated, "Our second quarter results reflect a higher quality of execution and performance, as we continue to implement the new Robinson operating model. And although we continue to fight through an elongated freight recession, we are winning and executing better at this point in the cycle.”

Segmental Results

North American Surface Transportation’s total revenues were $2.989 billion (down 2.9% year over year) in the second quarter owing to lower truckload pricing, reflecting an oversupply of truckload capacity compared to freight demand. Adjusted gross profit of the segment grew 4.8% to $419.7 million.

Total revenues from Global Forwarding grew 18.1% year over year to $921.2 million, owing to higher pricing in the company’s ocean services. Adjusted gross profit grew 2.7% to $184.1 million.

Revenues from other sources (Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Other Surface Transportation) increased 5.2% to $39.9 million owing to an increase in integrated supply-chain solutions for retail and foodservice customers.

Below we present the division of adjusted profit among the service lines (on an enterprise basis).

Transportation: The unit (comprising Truckload, LTL, Ocean, Air, Customs and Other logistics services) delivered an adjusted gross profit of $651.54million in the quarter under review, up 3.2% from the prior-year figure.

Adjusted gross profits of Truckload, LTL, Ocean and Customs grew 5%, 6.3%, 8.5% and 6.1%, year over year, respectively. Adjusted gross profits of Air and Other logistics services declined 8.4% and 13.9% year over year, respectively.

Balance-Sheet Data

CHRW exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $113.16 million compared with $121.84 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt was $1.421 billion compared with $1.420 billion at the end of the prior quarter.

CHRW generated $166.4 million of cash from operations in the second quarter. Capital expenditures totaled $19.3 million in the reported quarter.

In the second quarter of 2024, CHRW returned $76.4 million of cash to shareholders which includes $72.7 million in the form of cash dividends and $3.7 million through share repurchases.

2024 Outlook

Capital expenditures for 2024 are expected to be toward the lower end of the previously provided range of $85 million-$95 million.

Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Currently, C.H. Robinson carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Over the past six months, shares of CHRW have gained 20.1%, outperforming the industry’s loss of 2.2%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines (DAL Quick QuoteDAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 35 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.36 per share, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.37. Earnings decreased 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Apart from high costs, the carrier blamed the discounting pressure at the low end of the market, which hurt its pricing power, for the disappointing performance.

Revenues of $16.65 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.25 billion and increased 6.9% year over year, driven by upbeat air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $15.41 billion, up 5.4% year over year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT Quick QuoteJBHT - Free Report) reported disappointing second-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

JBHT’s earnings of $1.32 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 and declined 27% year over year.

JBHT’s total operating revenues of $2.93 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.03 billion and fell 7% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell 6% year over year.The downfall was owing to a 5% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and a decline in load volume of 25% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), 9% in Truckload (JBT), and 9% in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS). These were partially offset by the 5% revenue growth of Final Mile Services (FMS), primarily driven by new contracts implemented over the past year, and a 5% increase in revenue per load in ICS.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL Quick QuoteUAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings per share (excluding 18 cents from non-recurring items) of $4.14, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.97. Earnings decreased 17.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Operating revenues of $14.98 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.13 billion. The top line increased 5.7% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 5.2% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 91.2% of the top line) to $13.680 billion. Almost 44,375 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the second quarter, up 5.8% year over year.