UPS slashing Amazon volume by 50% in push for profitability

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“Amazon is our largest customer but not our most profitable,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)
“Amazon is our largest customer but not our most profitable,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS said it will cut the volumes it handles for Amazon by 50% going into the second half of 2026 as part of a plan to improve profitability at the parcel carrier.

The news was announced during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release and call with analysts Thursday before the market opened.

E-commerce giant Amazon accounted for 11.8% of revenue at UPS in 2024, but “looking ahead, we project this business, if we take no action, will drive diminishing returns,” CEO Carol Tomé said during the call with analysts. “Amazon is our largest customer but not our most profitable.”

After the announcement about Amazon, UPS stock fell by as much as 15% by noon.

UPS (NYSE: UPS) also announced an initiative called “efficiency reimagined,” which aims to reduce spending by $1 billion and will include reductions in labor and the closing of a number of facilities in its logistics network over the next several quarters.

The company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $25.3 billion, a 1.6% year-over-year increase compared to the previous year.

Adjusted earnings per share in the quarter came in at $2.75, up 11.3% year over year compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

UPS missed Wall Street revenue expectations of $25.419 but beat EPS predictions of $2.53.

The company’s U.S. domestic segment fourth-quarter revenue increased 2.2% year over year to $17.3 billion, reflecting a 2.4% year-over-year increase in revenue per piece, along with increases in air cargo volumes.

UPS’ international segment quarterly revenue grew 6.9% year over year to $4.9 billion, reflecting an 8.8% year-over-year increase in average daily volume.

“International domestic average daily volume increased 5.8% compared to last year, driven by strong performance in Canada,” CFO Brian Dykes said. “On the export side, average daily volume increased 11.7% year over year, with all regions delivering average daily volume growth. Asia export average daily volume was up 15.4% year over year, delivering growth for the third consecutive quarter.”

Dykes said 17 of UPS’ top 20 export countries grew export average daily volume during the fourth quarter, led by Mexico and Germany.

“In Germany, which is our largest export market, average daily volume increased 8.6% compared to last year in the fourth quarter,” Dykes said.

The supply chain solutions segment’s fourth-quarter revenue declined by 9.1% year over year to $3 billion.

For 2025, UPS expects total revenue of $89 billion, down about 2.3% from 2024.

The company is planning capital expenditures of about $3.5 billion, dividend payments of around $5.5 billion, subject to board approval, and share repurchases of around $1 billion. The effective tax rate is expected to be around 23.5%.