Ground Transportation Stocks Q3 Teardown: Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) Vs The Rest

As the Q3 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the ground transportation industry, including Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) and its peers.

The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, especially last-mile delivery, presenting opportunities for ground transportation companies. The industry continues to invest in data, analytics, and autonomous fleets to optimize efficiency and find the most cost-effective routes. Despite the essential services this industry provides, ground transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins.

The 16 ground transportation stocks we track reported a slower Q3. As a group, revenues were in line with analysts’ consensus estimates.

While some ground transportation stocks have fared somewhat better than others, they have collectively declined. On average, share prices are down 2.3% since the latest earnings results.

Weakest Q3: Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD)

Founded by the son of a trucker, Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) offers full-truckload deliveries across the United States and Mexico.

Heartland Express reported revenues of $259.9 million, down 11.9% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

Heartland Express Chief Executive Officer Mike Gerdin commented on the quarterly operating results and ongoing initiatives of the Company, "Our consolidated operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024, continue to be hampered by a challenging freight environment. This prolonged recessionary period continues to be driven by a combination of lower freight demand and excess truck capacity in the marketplace. This significant imbalance of supply and demand for trucking services began in the back half of 2022, continued in 2023, and through September 30, 2024 we did not see meaningful or sustained improvements in the freight environment. We believe that the last four quarters of this current freight cycle are arguably the worst four consecutive quarters experienced in the trucking industry over the Company’s 45+ year history. As a result, our trucking assets have been underutilized. However, in October we have begun to see encouraging signs pointing to the early stages of a potential recovery in freight demand, but we do not expect impactful improvement until 2025."

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Heartland Express Total Revenue

Heartland Express delivered the slowest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 3.6% since reporting and currently trades at $11.79.

Read our full report on Heartland Express here, it’s free.

Best Q3: XPO (NYSE:XPO)

Owning a mobile game simulating freight operations for the Tour de France, XPO (NYSE:XPO) is a transportation company specializing in expedited shipping services.

XPO reported revenues of $1.92 billion, flat year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ EPS estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.XPO Total Revenue

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 7.8% since reporting. It currently trades at $146.99.

Is now the time to buy XPO? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Werner (NASDAQ:WERN)

Conducting business in over a 100 countries, Werner (NASDAQ:WERN) offers full-truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal delivery services.

Werner reported revenues of $754.7 million, down 8.2% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 0.9%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

Interestingly, the stock is up 1.8% since the results and currently trades at $35.30.

Read our full analysis of Werner’s results here.

Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA)

Pivoting its business model after realizing there was more success in delivering produce than selling it, Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) is a provider of freight transportation solutions.

Saia reported revenues of $789 million, up 5% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. It was a strong quarter as it also produced an impressive beat of analysts’ sales volume estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

The stock is up 1.4% since reporting and currently trades at $487.01.

Read our full, actionable report on Saia here, it’s free.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL)

With its name deriving from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s nickname, Old Dominion (NASDAQ:ODFL) delivers less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-container load freight.

Old Dominion Freight Line reported revenues of $1.39 billion, down 7.3% year on year. This result surpassed analysts’ expectations by 1%. Taking a step back, it was a satisfactory quarter as it also logged a decent beat of analysts’ EPS estimates but sales volume in line with analysts’ estimates.

The stock is up 12.8% since reporting and currently trades at $207.20.

Read our full, actionable report on Old Dominion Freight Line here, it’s free.

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