C.H. Robinson (CHRW) Q1 Earnings & Revenues Lag, Decline Y/Y
C.H. Robinson Worldwide CHRW reported disappointing first-quarter 2023 results wherein both earnings and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings (excluding 2 cents from non-recurring items) of 98 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 and declined 52.2% year over year due to unfavorable pricing in ocean and truckload services. Total revenues of $4611.7 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4780 million and declined 32.3% year over.
Operating expenses declined 6.4% year over year to $524.6 million. Adjusted gross profit fell 24.3% to $685.6 million, owing to lower adjusted gross profit per transaction in ocean and truckload.
Segmental Results
North American Surface Transportation’s total revenues were $3,304.18 million (down 19.7% year over year) in the March quarter. Segmental revenues were hurt by lower truckload pricing due to lackluster freight demand. Adjusted gross profit of the segment declined 15.7%.
Total revenues from Global Forwarding were $790 million, down 64% year over year. Results were weighed down by lower pricing in CHRW’s ocean and air services, reflecting softening market demand. Adjusted gross profit of the segment fell 44.7% year over year.
Revenues from other sources (Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Other Surface Transportation) increased 2.1% to $517.5 million.
Below we present the division of adjusted profit among the service lines (on an enterprise basis).
Transportation: The unit (comprising Truckload, Intermodal, LTL, Ocean, Air, Customs and Other logistics services) delivered an adjusted gross profit of $656.9 million in the quarter under consideration, down 25.2% from the prior-year figure.
Adjusted gross profits of Truckload, LTL and Customs declined 19.8%, 9% and 15.1% year over year to $288.6 million, $138.6 million and $23.3 million, respectively. However, other logistics services’ adjusted gross profit rose 16.7% to $64.9 million.
Adjusted gross profit of the Ocean transportation segment fell 50.3% year over year. The metric fell 49% to $31.3 million in the Air transportation sub-group.
Balance-Sheet Data
CHRW exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $239.1 million compared with $217.4 million at the end of 2022. Long-term debt was $920.2 million compared with $920.04 million at the end of 2022.
CHRW generated $254.5 million of cash from operations in the first quarter. Capital expenditures were $27 million in the reported quarter.
In the first quarter of 2023, the company repurchased shares worth $51.2 million and paid $73.4 million in cash dividends.
2023 Outlook
Capital expenditures for 2023 are anticipated to be between $90 million and $100 million. Full-year effective tax rate is projected in the range of 19-21%.
Zacks Rank
Currently, C.H. Robinson carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc.’s JBHT first-quarter 2023 earnings of $1.89 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.04 and declined 17.5% year over year.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3,229.58 million also lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,434.4 million and fell 7.4% year over year. The downfall was due to declines in the volume of 25% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), 5% in Intermodal (JBI) and 17% in Final Mile Services (FMS), respectively. A decline of 17% in revenue per load in Truckload (JBT) also added to the woes.
Revenue declines in ICS, JBI, FMS and JBT were partially offset by Dedicated Contract Services revenue growth of 13%. JBHT’s total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharges, decreased 10.2% year over year.
Delta Air Lines’ DAL first-quarter 2023 earnings (excluding 82 cents from non-recurring items) of 25 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 29 cents. Volatile fuel prices and unfavorable weather conditions led to this downtick. DAL reported a loss of $1.23 per share a year ago, dull in comparison to the current scenario, as air-travel demand was not so buoyant then.
DAL reported revenues of $12,759 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $12,767.4 million. However, driven by higher air-travel demand, total revenues increased 36.49% on a year-over-year basis.
Alaska Air Group, Inc. ALK reported first-quarter 2023 loss of 62 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 48 cents. In the year-ago quarter, ALK incurred a loss of $1.33.
ALK’s operating revenues of $2,196 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,202.5 million. However, the top line jumped 31% year over year, with passenger revenues accounting for 90.3% of the top line and increasing 31% owing to continued recovery in air-travel demand.
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