Old Dominion (ODFL) Q3 Earnings & Revenues Miss, Down Y/Y

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) delivered third-quarter 2019 earnings of $2.05 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.11. Moreover, the bottom line fell 3.3% year over year. Quarterly revenues of $1,048.5 million fell short of the consensus mark of $1,059.2 million and inched down nearly 1% year over year. Results were affected by 5.2% decline in LTL (Less-Than-Truckload) tonnage due to soft freight environment. The major revenue generating segment — LTL services — logged a total of $1.04 billion, marginally down year over year.

In the quarter under review, LTL revenue per hundredweight was up 5.8%, excluding fuel surcharges. However, LTL shipments declined 4.5%. Also, LTL weight per shipment fell marginally. Additionally, operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) deteriorated to 79.3% from 78.4% in the year-ago quarter.

Old Dominion, which carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $322.29 million compared with $190.28 million at the end of 2018. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Capital expenditures at the end of the first nine months of 2019 totaled $370.3 million. The company continues to expect capital expenditures of $480 million in 2019. Of the total amount, $220 million is anticipated to be invested in real estate and service-center expansion. Approximately $165 million and $95 million are estimated to be spent in tractors and trailers and technology and other assets, respectively.

During the first nine months of 2019, Old Dominion rewarded its shareholders with $246.4 million through $41 million in dividend payouts and $205.3 million in buybacks.

Upcoming Releases

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector are awaiting third-quarter earnings reports from key players like Expeditors International of Washington, Inc (NASDAQ:EXPD) , Air Lease Corporation (NYSE:AL) and Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) . Hertz will release third-quarter results on Nov 4. Expeditors and Air Lease will announce the same on Nov 5 and Nov 7, respectively.

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