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It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Landstar System (LSTR). Shares have added about 5.2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500.
Will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Landstar 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 drivers.
Q3 Earnings Miss
Landstar reported disappointing third-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.41 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 and fell 17.5% year over year. The reported figure quarter lies within the guided range of $1.35 - $1.55.
Revenues of $1.21 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.22 billion as well as declined 5.8% year over year. The downside was owing to the weakness across majority of its segments in the reported quarter. The reported figure quarter lies within the guided range of $1.175-$1.275 billion.
Operating income fell 21.4% from the prior-year quarter’s figure to $63.11 million. Total costs and expenses (on a reported basis) decreased 4.7% to $1.15 billion.
LSTR’s Segmental Details
Total revenues in the truck transportation segment — contributing to 89.8% of the top line — amounted to $1.09 billion, down 7% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. Rail intermodal revenues of $20.97 million decreased 9% from the figure recorded in second-quarter 2023. Revenues in the ocean and air-cargo carrier segments improved 15.9% year over year to $76.34 million. Other revenues decreased 4.7% to $25.41 million.
Liquidity, Dividends & Buyback
At the end of third-quarter 2024, Landstar had cash and cash equivalents of $468.83 million compared with $438.06million recorded at the prior-quarter end. Additionally, long-term debt (excluding current maturities) totaled $44.83 million at the end of the third quarter compared with $45.39 million at the prior-quarter end.
During the third quarter of 2024, Landstar purchased almost 121,000 shares for $22.4 million. LSTR is currently authorized to purchase up to an additional 2,563,081 shares under its longstanding share purchase program.
Landstar’s board of directorsdeclared a quarterly cash dividend of 36 cents per share payable on Dec 10, 2024, to stockholders of record at the close of business on Nov 19, 2024.
LSTR’s Fourth-Quarter 2024 Guidance
LSTR expects fourth-quarter revenues in the range of$1.150 - $1.250 billion. LSTR expects fourth-quarter 2024 truckloads to be down 4% to up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Truck revenue per load is likely to improve from breakeven to 4% on a year-over-year basis. EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.25-$1.45 per share. Effective income tax rate is expected at 24.5%.