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Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. ODFL is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2021 results on Feb 2, before market open.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s fourth-quarter earnings has remained flat in the past 60 days at $2.24. The company has an impressive earnings history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all of the past four quarters. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.20%, on average.
Let’s see how things are shaping up for this earnings season.
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. Quote
A gradual recovery in the freight environment is anticipated to have aided Old Dominion’s fourth-quarter performance. This is expected to be reflected in less than truckload (LTL) revenue per hundredweight. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter LTL revenue per hundredweight suggests a rise of 15.5% from the year-ago quarter’s reported number and a 1.4% improvement from third-quarter 2021’s reported figure. The anticipated improvement in LTL revenue per hundredweight is likely to get reflected in revenues from LTL services, the company’s major revenue-generating segment. Per the consensus mark, LTL tonnage per day is likely to have surged 12.5% from the year-ago-quarter’s reported figure.
Improvement in operating ratio (operating expenses, as a percentage of revenues) is likely to get reflected in the fourth-quarter bottom line (driven by higher revenues). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the operating ratio is pegged at 75% for the quarter to be reported, indicating a rise from 76% reported in fourth-quarter 2020. Lower the value of this key measure of efficiency, the better.
Higher operating expenses (stemming from higher costs pertaining to fuel costs, salaries, wages and benefits as well as increased operating supplies and expenses) and capital expenditures are likely to have hurt the company’s bottom line.
What Does the Zacks Model Say?
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Old Dominion this time around. This is because a stock needs to have a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) for this to happen, which is not the case here. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Earnings ESP: Old Dominion has an Earnings ESP of -0.51%. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank: Old Dominion carries a Zacks Rank #3 currently.