Jeremy Bowman, The Motley Fool
Fri, Apr 25, 2025, 10:12 AM 3 min read
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Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) were falling contiguous successful sympathy with a disappointing study from rival Saia, different apical less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier.
Combined with the study from ODFL the time before, Saia's update is wide grounds that the commercialized warfare and weakening system is already having an effect connected the trucking sector.
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As of 11:58 a.m. ET, Old Dominion banal was down 6.7%, portion Saia banal had plunged 29.1%.
Old Dominion managed to walk muster with its ain first-quarter net study arsenic results, though weak, lived up to expert expectations.
ODFL said gross fell 5.8% to $1.37 billion, which matched estimates, portion net per stock dropped 11% to $1.19, which was up of expectations astatine $1.14. Management said the results reflected the "ongoing softness successful the home economy." Tonnage per time was down 6.3%, reflecting weakening request successful the industry.
Despite the anemic results, absorption was capable to reassure investors that it tin upwind the uncertainty successful the economy.
Saia's net study seemed to displacement capitalist cognition of manufacture dynamics arsenic it reported an summation successful gross successful the archetypal quarter, but a crisp driblet successful profit, showing it prioritized marketplace stock gains implicit profitability. Its gross maturation was besides slower than successful erstwhile quarter, indicating that request was weakening.
Saia's gross roseate 4.3% successful the archetypal 4th to $787.6 million, severely missing estimates astatine $811.5 million, portion net per stock tumbled from $3.38 to $1.86, good beneath expectations astatine $2.76.
The results from some companies intelligibly amusement softening pricing dynamics successful an manufacture wherever capableness is key, and Saia noted that shipments failed to turn sequentially done the 4th arsenic they typically do, which it blamed connected an "uncertain macroeconomic environment."
It's unclear what's happening adjacent with tariffs oregon the commercialized war, but things look apt to get worse earlier they get amended for the LTL assemblage arsenic Trump's "Liberation Day" announcement didn't adjacent spell into effect until April, erstwhile the archetypal 4th was over.
These companies don't typically springiness guidance owed to the volatility inherent successful the concern truthful investors should alloy themselves for much challenges ahead. However, the LTL assemblage has historically been a winner, meaning implicit the agelong word these 2 stocks should beryllium capable to recover.