Federal Express Corp. earnings exceeded Wall Street expectations for the fiscal year fourth quarter, with premium business-to-business services driving most of the revenue growth and efficiencies from a multiyear network restructuring fully takes hold.
The courier giant on Tuesday pointed to strong growth in yields and volumes across its domestic and international parcel and freight products as a positive verdict on the strategy to focus on growing market share in premium markets such as automotive, healthcare, aerospace, data centers and specialized B2C. FedEx (NYSE: FDX) has largely abandoned local, last-mile parcel delivery for e-commerce sellers because the low margins can’t offset the high cost of operating a global multi-modal network.
Revenue increased 13% to $25 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $6.31 was up 4% year over year, but the company’s operating margin contracted to 8.4% from 9.1% as it coped with volatile tariff changes from the Trump administration, the grounding of the MD-11 freighter fleet, uncertainty from the Iran war and rising transportation and labor costs. FedEx and its pilots this month finalized a new contract that increases pay by 40% over the four-year term.
The results were the first issued since FedEx spun off its freight trucking business on June 1. FedEx Freight reports results on Thursday. FedEx’s fiscal year 2026 ended on May 31, but the company switched to reporting on a standard calendar year format on June 1, making upcoming year-over-year comparisons more difficult. The company expects to meet its target of more than $1 billion in savings this year because of the network streamlining.
FedEx grew full-year revenue by 9% to $94.7 billion and adjusted operating income by 17%. The 7.7% adjusted operating margin was the highest margin rate in four years.
Domestic and international package volumes in the quarter grew 13% versus the prior year period. Package yield was up 11%. In the past two years, FedEx has targeted heavy freight shipments to better utilize its airline capacity. The new focus led to a 12% increase in the average daily pounds for international export freight compared to the same quarter last year. Management highlighted continued strong momentum in international air freight, despite elevated fuel surcharges. Pass through of high fuel costs has not dampened demand so far, the company said.
FedEx’s consolidation of express and ground networks into an integrated operation continues to make progress. By the end of June, about 45% of FedEx’s eligible U.S. and Canadian average daily volume will flow through 490 reorganized facilities, with optimized volumes rising to 65% by peak season in the fourth quarter, CEO Raj Subramaniam said during a presentation to analysts.
In Europe, FedEx achieved its twelfth consecutive quarter of revenue gains, which the company attributed to better service levels. Subramaniam said Europe represents the largest opportunity for profit improvement in the cross-border international business. A 9% fall in international domestic volume was largely attributed to a strategic decision in Europe to improve margins by focusing on higher yielding cross-border volume. The company recently announced a $54 million investment to expand a less-than-truckload terminal in Duiven, the Netherlands, to support growth in the premium parcel and freight market, and better align with the reimagined deferred air freight network. FedEx is targeting high-yield air freight, such as pharmaceuticals, perishables, electronics and automotive components that is more profitable per pound than heavier, general consignments.
FedEx is beginning to recoup duties ordered returned by the Supreme Court because the emergency justification used by the Trump administration was deemed unconstitutional. Chief Commercial Officer Brie Carere said FedEx will start passing on refunds to customers in August.
On a calendar-year basis, FedEx said it expects revenue to grow 11% in 2026 with guidance for about $17.50 per adjusted diluted share at the midpoint implying y/y growth of 16%.
FedEx’s stock price was down 3.5% in after hours trading.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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