J.B. Hunt Q1 beats expectations

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) reported first-quarter earnings of $1.37 per share Thursday after the market close, 19 cents ahead of the consensus estimate.

Revenue increased 15% year-over-year to $2.62 billion in the quarter with each division recording growth.

Click for full article – J.B. Hunt lays out new margin targets for all segments

Intermodal volumes were down 3% year-over-year in the quarter, in part due to severe winter storms in February that negatively impacted roughly 25,000 load opportunities. Revenue per load increased 5%, but operating income declined 6%, excluding an accrual related to its revenue division with BNSF Railway (Berkshire Hathaway, NYSE: BRK.B) and one-time COVID-related bonuses paid during the first quarter of 2020.

The company noted that rail network-related disruptions weighed on operations in March as well.

Dedicated revenue increased 7% year-over-year as loads increased by a similar amount. Revenue per truck per week was up 6%.

Brokerage revenue surged 57% year-over-year with total loads remaining basically level with the prior year. Revenue per load accounted for the increase and gross profit margin improved 280 bps to 12.4%. The division posted a $7.3 million profit.

The company will host a call at 5 p.m. EDT Thursday to discuss results with analysts. Stay tuned to FreightWaves for continuing coverage of J.B. Hunt’s earnings announcement.

Click for full article – J.B. Hunt lays out new margin targets for all segments

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