FedEx Leads S&P 500 After Surprise Earnings Growth Shocks Wall Street (2024)

Shipping heavyweight FedEx (FDX) surprised Wall Street Thursday, reporting better-than-expected fiscal 2024 third-quarter earnings while revenue came in below expectations. FedEx also narrowed its full-year earnings view, citing uncertainty about the economy. FDX surged Friday.

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FedEx reported Thursday earnings of $3.86 per share, up 13% compared to Q3 2023, in the fiscal third quarter with revenue falling 2% to $21.74 billion. Analysts expected FedEx EPS of $3.43 with sales of $21.95 billion. Wall Street looks to FDX earnings performance and outlook to provide on-the-ground readings of economic activity.

FedEx blamed the 2% revenue decrease primarily on lower fuel surcharges at all its transportation segments along with decreased volumes in its FedEx Express and FedEx Freight segments.

Revenue from FedEx's package delivery business increased less than 1% to $8.26 billion. Meanwhile, sales from the company's freight segment dropped around 3% to $2.12 billion.

For the rest of the fiscal year, FedEx said it expects revenue to be "pressured by volatile macroeconomic conditions negatively affecting customer demand for our services and constraining yield growth."

FedEx maintained its full fiscal-year outlook of "low-single-digit percentage decline" in revenue and narrowed its earnings view to $17.25-$18.25 per share. In December 2023, FedEx predicted full 2024 earnings of $17-$18.50 per share.

FedEx added that it is currently in negotiations for a new multi-year contract agreement with the United Postal Service (USPS). The current contract expires at the end of September.

"The uncertainty of a slowdown in the global economy, global inflation, geopolitical challenges, and the effects these factors will have on the rate of growth of global trade, supply chains, fuel prices, and our business in particular, make any expectations for the remainder of 2024 inherently less certain," according to the FedEx 10-Q filing for the quarter.

FedEx Outlook And Stock Performance

FDX stock jumped 7.4% to 284.31 Friday during market action, approaching a 285.53 buy point. On Thursday, FedEx stock gained 1.9% to 264.85. Ahead of Friday trade, FedEx stock was up more than 6% in March, working to climb the right side of a three-month consolidation, according to MarketSurge analysis.

The earnings report from FedEx Thursday follows Hapag-Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen telling CNBC recently that he has an improved view on trade for the rest of 2024. Germany-based Hapag-Lloyd is the world's fifth-largest ocean carrier.

Jansen is more optimistic on shipping demand throughout the year. U.S. shippers, including retailers, are planning for an earlier peak shipping season, around June, in 2024, according to CNBC.

Ahead of FedEx's fiscal third-quarter report Thursday, analysts expressed pessimism.

Stifel on Thursday lowered its price target on FedEx stock to 290, from 305, while maintaining a buy rating on the shares. The firm wrote that heading into the fiscal fourth quarter, it is "incrementally more cautious" on FedEx.

Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shanker wrote on March 4 the firm expected a Q3 earnings miss and that it is awaiting details on FedEx's contract with USPS.

Shanker wrote there is "risk" to fiscal year guidance and that even if FedEx management "maintains the range by pointing to a sharp 4Q recovery, we believe the market may be somewhat skeptical."

Meanwhile, rival UPS (UPS) holds its "analyst day" on March 26. The package delivery giant at the end of January announced plans to reduce its workforce by 12,000 along with worse-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and 2024 guidance well below analyst expectations.

UPS stock gained around 0.6% Friday.

Both FedEx and UPS have lost ground to Amazon.com (AMZN) in parcel deliveries in recent years. In 2022, Amazon delivered more packages in the U.S. than UPS. Amazon previously beat out in FedEx in 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported late in 2023 that the e-commerce giant is likely to widen delivery gap.

The USPS remains the largest parcel delivery service by volume.

FedEx stock has a 59 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. FDX shares also have a 61 Relative Strength Rating and an 83 EPS Rating.

Please follow Kit Norton on X, formerly known as Twitter, @KitNorton for more coverage.

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FedEx Leads S&P 500 After Surprise Earnings Growth Shocks Wall Street (2024)

FAQs

FedEx Leads S&P 500 After Surprise Earnings Growth Shocks Wall Street? ›

FedEx Leads S&P 500 After Surprise Earnings Growth Shocks Wall Street. Shipping heavyweight FedEx (FDX) surprised Wall Street Thursday, reporting better-than-expected fiscal 2024 third-quarter earnings while revenue came in below expectations.

Is FedEx struggling financially? ›

FedEx's odds of distress is under 8% at this time. It has tiny probability of undergoing some form of financial crisis in the near future. Probability of bankruptcy shows the probability of financial torment over the next two years of operations under current economic and market conditions.

Why is FedEx a good stock to invest in? ›

Looking at cash flow, FedEx is expected to report cash flow growth of 9.7% this year; FDX has generated cash flow growth of 3.6% over the past three to five years. FDX should be on investors' short lists because of its impressive growth fundamentals, a good Zacks Rank, and strong Growth and VGM Style Scores.

Why is FedEx declining? ›

A decline for FedEx Express — which handles air and ground shipments globally — was due to lower international yields, which were offset in part by cost reductions and higher domestic package yields, the company said.

What is the earnings prediction for FedEx? ›

FedEx is forecast to grow earnings and revenue by 9.3% and 4.1% per annum respectively. EPS is expected to grow by 12.6% per annum. Return on equity is forecast to be 18% in 3 years.

What is FedEx's rumor for 2024? ›

FedEx will consolidate all its operating companies into a single organization, effective June 2024. FedEx Corp. provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services.

Will FedEx stock recover? ›

The average price target for FedEx is $322.38. This is based on 17 Wall Streets Analysts 12-month price targets, issued in the past 3 months. The highest analyst price target is $359.00 ,the lowest forecast is $215.00. The average price target represents 13.14% Increase from the current price of $284.95.

Who owns the most stock in FedEx? ›

  • The Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX) The Dodge & Cox Stock Fund (DODGX) is the biggest fund holder of FedEx stock, owning about 10.8 shares for a market value of $1.6 billion at the end of September 2021. ...
  • The Vanguard PRIMECAP Fund Admiral Shares (VPMAX) ...
  • The Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares (VTSAX)

Which stock is better UPS or FedEx? ›

In terms of forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, UPS stands at 15.31, slightly higher than FedEx's 13.24. This metric suggests that investors may be paying a premium for UPS's earnings compared to FedEx. According to analysts, UPS holds a potential upside of 7.18%, while FedEx boasts an even higher upside of 11.2%.

Is FedEx stock undervalued? ›

FedEx is still a bargain right now. Our valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $433.21, which is above what the market is valuing the company at the moment. This indicates a potential opportunity to buy low.

Why did Amazon ditch FedEx? ›

FedEx says one of the key factors in deciding not to renew its contract with Amazon was because it wanted to focus on the larger e-commerce market. The number of e-commerce packages is expected to grow from 50 million to 100 million a day by 2026.

What is the outlook for FedEx in 2024? ›

Capital spending for fiscal 2024 was $5.2 billion, down 16% from $6.2 billion in fiscal 2023. During fiscal 2024, FedEx returned approximately $3.8 billion to stockholders through the combination of $2.5 billion of stock repurchases and $1.3 billion of dividend payments.

Why is FedEx stock doing bad? ›

The package delivery giant missed earnings and revenue estimates on a drop in volume, lower fuel surcharges, reduced demand surcharges, and a shift toward less profitable services. FedEx cut its full-year revenue outlook for the second consecutive quarter, and now anticipates a decline.

Is FedEx a good long term stock? ›

FDX is a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock, with a Growth Style Score of B and VGM Score of A. Earnings are expected to grow 15.3% year-over-year for the current fiscal year, with sales growth of 3%. Two analysts revised their earnings estimate upwards in the last 60 days for fiscal 2025.

Is FedEx financially stable? ›

FedEx has the Financial Strength Rank of 6.

GuruFocus Financial Strength Rank measures how strong a company's financial situation is.

Is FedEx still profitable? ›

FedEx Corp. reported growing profits despite declining revenue in its first quarter of fiscal 2024 ended Aug. 31. FedEx revenue declined to $21.7 billion, down from $23.2 billion in the year-ago period. However, operating income grew over the same time period, up to $1.49 billion from $1.19 billion last year.

What problems is FedEx facing? ›

Two major problems have emerged: the handoff of packages from sorting facilities to FedEx contractors and the high turnover rate among contractor drivers.

What is the future for FedEx? ›

FedEx Corp. is announcing today at its DRIVE Investor Event that it will consolidate its operating companies into one organization, creating efficiencies that will enhance the company's ability to meet the evolving needs of customers and ultimately build a stronger, more profitable enterprise.

Is FedEx losing employees? ›

The Memphis, Tennessee-based company said it is cutting jobs and consolidating some teams to streamline its workforce and reduce structural costs. FedEx anticipates it will lay off 1,700 to 2,000 employees, reportedly costing the company between $250 million and $375 million through the 2026 fiscal year.

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