ArcBest (ARCB) Gains 13% Year To Date: More Room To Run?

Shares of ArcBest Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCB) have outperformed its industry on a year-to-date basis. The stock has gained 12.6% against the industry’s 5.7% decline.

Year-to-Date Price Performance

Let’s delve deep to unearth the reasons behind the company’s impressive price performance and find out if there is room for further appreciation:

Last month, ArcBest reported impressive third-quarter 2018 numbers, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed their respective estimates. Both the metrics also improved year over year. Strong performance of the company’s asset-based business, which accounts for bulk of the top line and lower tax rates, aided results.

The asset-light segment also performed well in the third quarter backed by increased revenue per shipment and higher market rates. Going forward, we expect the segment to continue delivering solid performance, courtesy of the aforementioned tailwinds.

In fact, ArcBest, like its fellow truck operators, is benefitting from robust freight demand. The upbeat freight scenario is evident from the year-over-year rise in Cass Freight Shipments Index in each of 2018’s first 10 months.

Bullish Readings & Zacks Rank

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ArcBest’s current-year earnings moved 18% north over the past 60 days, reflecting positivity surrounding the stock. The same has been revised upward to the tune of 9.6% over the past 60 days for next year’s earnings.

Additionally, ArcBest flaunts a VGM Score of A, highlighting its attractiveness. Here V stands for Value, G for Growth and M for Momentum and the score is a weighted combination of all three scores.

Considering these positives, we believe that ArcBest should be added by investors to their portfolios. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) sported by the stock seems to suggest the same.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector may consider Air France-KLM SA (OTC:AFLYY) , CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) and Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Air France, CSX Corporation and Spirit Airlines have rallied 32.6%, 12.3% and 69.2%, respectively, in the past six months.

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