Trucking giant Knight-Swift beats on earnings, but cuts guidance due to a 'less robust' market (KNX)

Arjun Reddy

April 24, 2019 3:00 PM

Trucking company Knight-Swift rose 1% Wednesday morning after it reported adjusted earnings that beat estimates.

truck driver

The company, however, dropped guidance for the second quarter citing a "less robust" operating environment driven by weaker demand.
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The trucking and logistics company Knight-Swift beat first quarter earnings expectations, sending the stock 1% higher early Wednesday.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $0.55 a share, beating the $0.52 that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting. Revenue fell 5% to $1.2 billion, missing the $1.3 billion that analysts were hoping for.

Knight-Swift also guided lower for its second-quarter adjusted earnings per share, saying it sees range of $0.62 to $0.64, down from $0.62 to $0.66.

"Overall, we are pleased that our ability to deploy assets effectively in a less robust market, together with enterprise wide efforts to improve our drivers' experience and safety, and a relentless focus on cost control, delivered strong first quarter results for our stockholders," noted the company's earnings release .

Trucking stocks have been under pressure in recent months as lower demand and a drop in oil prices are starting to "take their toll on trucking-industry pricing power," according to Nicholas Colas,co-founder of DataTrek Research.

Rival JB Hunt also missed revenue expectations for the quarter , citing the Trump administration's tariff policy as a factor weakening demand.

Knight-Swift was up 38% year to date.