C.H. Robinson’s profits soar on higher truckload and ocean rates

NAST revenues grew 13.7% to $3.2 billion. NAST gross margins held steady at 13.1%, just 10 basis points lower than the first quarter of 2020, enough to deliver $136.7 million in income from operations, up 38.8% year-over-year.

NAST truckload volumes fell 6.5% year-over-year, the second straight quarter of year-over-year declines in truckload volume and the third decline in the past four quarters. But Robinson charged its customers far more to move those truckloads, raising prices by 33% as its own purchased transportation costs increased 33.5%. It’s become clear over the past few quarters that Robinson is growing its less-than-truckload business a bit more aggressively than its truckload portfolio: LTL shipments per day were up 17% compared to a year ago.

A combination of fairly steep reductions in NAST headcount and double-digit growth in less-than-truckload volumes contributed to impressive growth in one of Robinson’s most important productivity metrics, NAST shipments per person per day:

Global Forwarding truly had a banner quarter: Income from operations exploded by 657.5% year-over-year to $90.5 million on gross revenues that grew 118% to $1.15 billion. Gross margins fell to 18.5% from 24.1% in the year-ago period. Ocean volumes were up 27% and air volumes were up 7% compared to the first quarter of 2020. Customs brokerage revenue increased 14.3% on 13.5% higher transaction volumes compared to a year ago.

In the first quarter of 2021, Robinson bought back $150.9 million in shares of its own stock and paid out $70 million in dividends. Capital expenditures were $13.5 million in the quarter, slightly under pace compared to Robinson’s full-year guidance for capex of $55 million-$65 million.