The third quarter at C.H. Robinson might be remembered for both the highs and the lows. It was the period when Lipe vs. Lupus Superior came down, and just days after the quarter ended, the giant 3PL announced the almost $6 billion acquisition of rival RXO (NYSE: RXO).
But neither of those things hit the company’s financial performance, which was strong both sequentially and year-to-year, the latter by a substantial amount.
Operating revenues at its North American Surface Transport unit, which houses its traditional brokerage activities, were up 29.1% from a year ago, with the company citing higher pricing and volume in its truckload and LTL operations. Volume is a particularly important metric at C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW), and benchmarked against the Cass Freight Shipment Index, C.H. Robinson said its volume was up 3.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter. That contrasts with a small decline in the Cass Index.
Headcount at C.H. Robinson continues to decline. However, the rate of the job cutbacks was slower than in the prior two quarters.
The headcount cutbacks have come with improvements in various measures of productivity, which CEO Dave Bozeman referred to in the company’s prepared statement released with the earnings.
“In NAST and Global Forwarding, the team continues to turn manual processes into agentic workflows that are increasingly automated, more connected, and easier to manage at scale,” Bozeman said. “As a result, both businesses delivered a higher level of year-over-year productivity improvements than they achieved in the first half of 2026, and both businesses achieved their mid-cycle operating margin targets again.”
Adjusted gross profit per shipment in truckload was up 17% year-on-year, “despite a significant increase in truckload spot market costs,” with the productivity improvements coming “due to disciplined revenue management,” according to the company statement.
The bottom line was strong, with adjusted diluted earnings per share up 28.6% to $1.80 per share. Adjusted gross profits in the North American Surface Transportation segment, which houses its traditional brokerage activities, were up 16.6% from a year earlier. Income from operations at NAST rose 17.9%. The adjusted operating margin at NAST was up 110 basis points to 40.3%.
With some softening in freight rates there were some negative numbers in sequential comparisons. Revenues at NAST were down 6.16% from the second quarter. But adjusted gross profits were up 10.31%. Income from operations rose 7.43%.
Among the statistics from its trucking activities, C.H. Robinson said the average truckload linehaul rate per mile charged to customers, which does not include fuel, was up 31.5% from a year ago. But costs per mile excluding fuel were up 33.5%, leading to a reduction in gross profits in truckload.
By contrast, LTL’s adjusted gross profits were up 8% from a year ago. C.H. Robinson cited a 4% increase in adjusted gross profit per order and a 3.5% volume increase.
Pre-market trading in C.H. Robinson stock was negative, despite the fact that, according to SeekingAlpha, the non-GAAP EPS of $180 was 5 cents better than consensus forecasts, and revenue of $5.36 billion was better by $450 million.
At approximately 7:50 a.m. EDT, C.H. Robinson was down 4.26% or $6.11 to $137.48. Its 52-week high was $210.33 on July 22, but the Lipe decision has put it under pressure.
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