Yahoo Finance C.H. Robinson (CHRW) Up 4.9% Since Last Earnings Report: Can It Continue?
A month has gone by since the last earnings report for C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW). Shares have added about 4.9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is C.H. Robinson due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at its most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts.
C.H. Robinson Beats on Q1 Earnings
C.H. Robinson first-quarter 2024 earnings of 86 cents per share outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 60 cents but declined year over year. Total revenues of $4,412.31 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4,209.1 million but declined 4.3% year over year owing to lowerpricing in the company’s truckload services, partially offset by higher pricing and increased volume in its ocean services.
Operating expenses grew 1.1% year over year to $530.6 million.
Adjusted gross profits fell 4.1% year over year to $657.7 million, owing to lower adjusted gross profit per transaction in truckload. Adjusted operating margin fell 420 basis points to 19.3%.
Segmental Results
North American Surface Transportation’s total revenues were $3.00billion (down 9.2% year over year) in the first quarter owing to lower truckload pricing, reflecting an oversupply of truckload capacity compared to freight demand. The actual figure was lower than our estimate of $3.03 billion. Adjusted gross profit of the segment declined 6.9% to $397.11 million.
Total revenues from Global Forwarding grew 8.7% to $858.63 million, owing to higher pricing and increased volume in CHRW’s ocean services. The actual figure was higher than our estimate of $613.8 million. Adjusted gross profit of the segment grew 1.2% year over year to $180.05million
Revenues from other sources (Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Other Surface Transportation) increased 6.9% to $553.36 million. The actual figure was higher than our estimate of $523.5 million.
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 $627.59million in the quarter under consideration, down 4.5% from the prior-year figure.
Adjusted gross profits of Truckload, Air and Other logistics services declined 10.8%, 2.5% and 8.2% year over year, respectively. For LTL, Ocean and Customs, adjusted gross profits grew 1.8%, 2.5% and 11.8% year over year, respectively.
Balance-Sheet Data
CHRW exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $121.84 million compared with $145.52 million at the end of prior quarter. Long-term debt was $1,420.77 million compared with $1,420.48 million at the end of prior quarter.
CHRW utilized $33.3 million of cash in operations in the first quarter. Capital expenditures were $22.5 million in the reported quarter.
In the first quarter of 2024, CHRW returned $90.7 million of cash to shareholders which includes $74.6 million in the form of cash dividends and $16.1 million through share repurchases.
2024 Outlook
Capital expenditures for 2024 are anticipated between $85 million and $95 million.
How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?
It turns out, estimates review have trended upward during the past month.
The consensus estimate has shifted 10.15% due to these changes.
VGM Scores
At this time, C.H. Robinson has an average Growth Score of C, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Following the exact same course, 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.
Outlook
Estimates have been broadly trending upward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions looks promising. Notably, C.H. Robinson has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months.
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C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
