FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) posted fiscal 2021 first-quarter results that exploded past analyst estimates, sending shares soaring in after-hours trading Tuesday.
The Memphis, Tennessee-based company posted diluted earnings per share of $4.72 on a GAAP basis and $4.87 a share on an adjusted, non-GAAP basis. In its fiscal 2020 first quarter, diluted EPS came in at $2.84 on a GAAP basis and $3.05 on a non-GAAP basis. The company’s first quarter ended Aug. 31.
Revenue jumped to $19.3 billion from $17 billion. GAAP operating income rose to $1.59 billion from $980 million. Net income soared to $1.25 billion from $745 million, while GAAP operating margins rose to 8.2% from 5.7%.
FedEx shares jumped more than $12 a share, or more than 5% from Tuesday’s close, shortly after the results were released.
The median EPS estimate of nine analysts polled on Barchart was $2.54 a share. Amit Mehrotra of Deutsche Bank, who had an estimate of $2.70 a share, called the results a “blow-out” and exclaimed in his email that “parcels are back!”
In a statement, FedEx attributed the results to strong volume growth in its domestic residential package delivery services and its time-sensitive International Priority service. The company’s ground-parcel and less-than-truckload (LTL) units posted improved shipment yields as well, the company said. Frederick W. Smith, FedEx’s founder, chairman and CEO, said in the statement that the strong results indicate that the “world has accelerated to meet our strategies.”
FedEx has reaped the benefits of a powerful increase in parcel volumes driven by heightened e-commerce activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has also made great strides in bending the cost curve in business-to-consumer deliveries to build profitability in a business that has struggled to gain margin traction.