Old Dominion's Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Decrease Y/Y

Old Dominion Freight Line’s ODFL fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $1.23 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.17 but dropped 16.3% year over year. Management stated that all per-share data, even for the prior-year period, have been adjusted to reflect the two-for-one stock split. ODFL announced the stock split in the first quarter.See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.Revenues of $1.39 billion marginally beat our Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.38 billion but decreased 7.3% year over year. An 8.2% decline in less-than-truckload (LTL) tons per day hurt results.Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. QuoteRevenues from LTL services came in at $1.37 billion, down 7.4% year over year. Revenues from LTL services were in line with our estimates. Revenues from other services fell 3.8% to $13.5 million, which was just above our projection of $13.2 million.In the quarter under review, LTL weight per shipment dipped 0.7%, and LTL revenue per shipment inched down 1.1%. LTL shipments and LTL shipments per day were down 6.1% and 7.6%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. LTL revenue per hundredweight decreased 0.4%.Total operating expenses fell by 2.1% year over year to $1.05 billion. The operating income decreased 20.7% to $334.02 million.Old Dominion exited the December quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $108.7 million compared with $433.8 million in 2023-end. Long-term debt at the end of the quarter was $40 million compared with $60 million at 2023-end. Capital expenditures were $170.9 million.The company paid out dividends worth $223.6 million and repurchased shares worth $967.3 million in the first nine months of the year. For 2024, ODFL anticipates total capital expenditures to be $750 million. Of the total, ODFL expects its aggregate capital expenditures for 2025 to total approximately $575 million, including planned expenditures of $300 million for real estate and service center expansion projects, $225 million for tractors and trailers, and $50 million for information technology and other assets.ODFL Hikes Dividend In a shareholder-friendly move, ODFL increased its quarterly cash dividend. ODFL’s board declared a first-quarter dividend of 28 cents per share. The amount is payable on March 19, 2025, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 5. After taking into account ODFL’s two-for-one stock split, this dividend represents a 7.7% increase compared to the quarterly cash dividend paid in the first quarter of 2024.Zacks Rank of ODFLCurrently, ODFL carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Q4 Performances of Other Transportation CompaniesDelta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 56 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.85 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.76. Earnings increased 44.5% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.DAL’s revenues of $15.56 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.99 billion and increased 9.4% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong holiday travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.44 billion, up 5.7% year over year. Passenger revenues, which accounted for 82.4% of total revenues, increased 5% year over year at $12.82 billion.J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $1.53, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.62. The bottom line increased 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.  JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3.15 billion narrowly beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.13 billion but declined 4.8% year over year. The decline was mainly due to lower fuel surcharge revenues and yield pressure in its Intermodal segment.JBHT’s fourth-quarter 2024 operating revenues of $2.78 billion, excluding fuel surcharge revenues, decreased 2% from the year-ago reported quarter. Total operating income for the reported quarter increased 2% year over year to $207 million.United Airlines Holdings UAL reported solid fourth-quarter 2024 results, with both earnings and revenues surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate.Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.26 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.01. The bottom line increased 63% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure exceeded the company’s guided range of $2.50-$3.00.5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in 2024. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +143.0%, +175.9%, +498.3% and +673.0%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT): Free Stock Analysis Report Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (ODFL): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks