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Why Is United Parcel (UPS) Down 3.5% Since the Last Earnings Report?

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About a month has gone by since the last earnings report for United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 3.5% in that time frame, underperforming the market.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

Third Quarter Results

United Parcel Service reported third-quarter 2017 earnings of $1.45, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 per share. Earnings increased 0.7% on a year-over-year basis. Results, however, were hurt by the recent hurricanes.

Revenues improved 7% to $15,978 million from the year-ago quarter, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15,605.5 million. The upside was driven by growth across all the key segments of the company.

Segmental Details

U.S. Domestic Package revenues climbed 3.9% year over year to $9,649 million in the reported quarter, driven by e-commerce growth. Segmental operating profit decreased 5.6% to $1,182 million.

Segmental average daily package volumes increased 3.4%, driven by a 3.4% rise in Ground products and 8% growth in Next Day Air services. Deferred Air products were down 1.6%. Average revenue per piece for the segment was up 2%. 

International Package revenues improved 11.2% to $3,364 million. Daily export volumes rose 19% in the quarter on the back of growth in all regions. Segmental operating profit increased 8.9% to $627 million.

Supply Chain and Freight revenues increased 13.4% to $2,965 million. Segmental results were aided by better market conditions among other factors. Operating profits in the segment climbed 9.7% to $226 million in the reported quarter.

Outlook

The company now expects 2017 adjusted earnings per share between $5.85 and $6.10 (old guidance: $5.80 to $6.10). The guidance includes $400 million of pre-tax currency headwinds.  UPS intends to raise some rates by an average of 4.9% from Dec. 24.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

It turns out, fresh estimates flatlined during the past month. There has been one revision higher for the current quarter compared to one lower.

VGM Scores

At this time, United Parcel's stock has an average Growth Score of C, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of C. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Based on our scores, the stock is equally suitable for growth, value and momentum investors.

Outlook

Notably, the stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect in-line returns from the stock in the next few months.


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