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Will Freight Demand Boost C.H. Robinson (CHRW) Q2 Earnings?

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C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW - Free Report) is scheduled to report second-quarter 2018 financial numbers on Jul 31, after the closing bell.

In the first quarter of 2018, the company’s earnings per share of $1.01 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents. The bottom line also improved 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Total revenues increased 14.9% year over year to $3,925.3 million, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,808.8 million.

Additionally, the company has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, with an average beat of 3.2%. The continuous bottom-line outperformance is well reflected in C.H. Robinson’s price performance. In a year’s time, the stock has rallied 40.8% compared with its industry’s 3.1% increase.

One-Year Price Performance

 

 

We expect C.H. Robinson to continue with its impressive trend pertaining to the bottom line in the second quarter of 2018 driven by a strong freight market.

Our quantitative model too points at an earnings beat in the soon-to-be-reported quarter. Here's why:

C.H. Robinson has the right combination of the two key ingredients — a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) or better — which increases the odds of an earnings surprise.

Earnings ESP : C.H. Robinson hasan Earnings ESP of +0.79% as the Most Accurate Estimate of $1.07 is a penny higher than the Zacks Consensus Estimate. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks Rank: C.H. Robinson carries a Zacks Rank #3, which when combined with a positive ESP makes us confident of an earnings beat.

Conversely, we caution against stocks with a Zacks Ranks #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into an earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

Factors Likely at Play

Increased freight demand is expected to boost C.H. Robinson’s second-quarter results. Meanwhile, rising freight prices is a major positive for the company. Also, improvement in operating cash flow is encouraging. 

The transportation sector (comprising Truckload, Intermodal, Less-than-Truckload, Ocean, Air, Customs and Other logistics services) is likely to perform well in the second quarter backed by increased pricing and other positives. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for transportation revenues stands at $614 million, higher than $539 million reported a year ago.

Additionally, reduced tax rate, courtesy of the new tax law should aid the bottom line in the soon-to-be reported quarter. We are also impressed by the company’s growth-by-acquisition strategy, which has expanded its portfolio and augmented its top line. The expanded portfolio should result in year-over-year revenue growth in the second quarter.

However, we expect high operating expenses to hurt C.H. Robinson's results. Escalated personnel and SG&A costs are anticipated to result in higher operating expenses.  The intermodal sub-group is likely to struggle in the soon-to-be reported quarter due to high costs.

Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector may check out a few better-ranked stocks from the same space like Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD - Free Report) , GOL Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. and Hub Group, Inc. (HUBG - Free Report) as these too possess the right combination of elements to beat estimates in their next releases.

Expeditors has an Earnings ESP of +1.54% and a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). The company will report second-quarter earnings on Aug 7. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

GOL Linhas has an Earnings ESP of +1.89% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company will report second-quarter earnings on Aug 2.

Hub Group has an Earnings ESP of +1.96% and a Zacks Rank #2. The company will report second-quarter earnings on Aug 1.

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