J.B. Hunt tops Wall Street view as 2Q earnings jump 117%
by July 15, 2010 4:37 pm 68 views
Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. profits easily topped Wall Street expectations as the Arkansas trucking giant’s second quarter earnings were lifted by improved pricing margins and across the board revenue growth.
For the period ended June 30, J.B. Hunt reported net income of $52.1 million, or 40 cents a share, a whopping 117% better than $24 million, or 19 cents a share, a year ago.
“Demand for transportation services has increased fairly dramatically as we have emerged from a multi-year freight recession. Scarcity of capacity in Intermodal, Truckload and Brokerage markets was quite pronounced in the current quarter,” J.B. Hunt President and CEO Kirk Thompson said in a statement. “We saw our business improve sequentially throughout the quarter as reflected in higher prices in Intermodal and Truck as the quarter unfolded.”
Total operating revenue for the current quarter was $943 million, a 22% increase over the $770 million reported for the second quarter 2009. The increase in operating revenue was primarily attributable to higher intermodal segment volumes, significant growth in dedicated contract services (DCS) segment and revenue growth in the truck segment.
Overall, current quarter operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharges, increased 16% over the second quarter of 2009. Operating income for the current quarter increased to $91.3 million vs. $47.1 million for the second quarter 2009, or $57.4 million, excluding the asset write down in 2009.
Wall Street analysts on average were expecting earnings of 36 cents a share on revenue of $911.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters.
Thompson also provided some analysis on the belief by some trucking analysts that the transport sector’s economic woes may have reached a bottom.
“Across all segments demand was solid throughout the quarter with no evidence of renewed weakness,” he said. “Shippers increasingly have exhibited concern about the supply/demand imbalance as their ability to secure adequate capacity has become more difficult.”
Additionally, J.B. Hunt said it used approximately $150 million of a previously announced $500 million share repurchase program to buy back approximately 4.4 million shares of the company’s common stock. Shares outstanding at June 30, 2010 were approximately 123 million.
J.B. Hunt shares (NASDAQ: JBHT) closed Thursday at $34.78, down 23 cents. The earnings report was issued after the markets closed. Company shares during the past 52 weeks have ranged from a $39.65 high to a $26.23 low.