Investing.com - JB Hunt Transport soared on Friday, powering industrials higher, despite the trucking company reporting mixed fourth-quarter results.
JB Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 81 cents a share, well below expectations for earnings of $1.50 a share, while revenue of $2.32 billion was modestly above estimates of $2.31 billion. Its shares rose 6%.
Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU), meanwhile, climbed 5% after its fourth-quarter results topped analysts' estimates.
It reported earnings of $1.59 a share on revenue of $694 million, topping estimates for earnings of $1.55 on revenue of $691.2 million.
Following the results, some analysts said they expected the company to build on the success of 2018 and deliver improved productivity and margins.
"Overall, we see results in 2019 benefiting from good commodity growth and efforts to improve productivity and operating margins," said CFRA, an independent research provider.
The trade-sensitive industrials were also supported by optimism on U.S.-China trade. Chinese officials offered to boost its annual imports of U.S. goods by a combined value of more than $1 trillion, Bloomberg reported.
S&P 500 Industrials rose 2% for the day, though remain down about 11.6% over the past year.