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Schneider Sees Drop in Q2 Earnings
Company Cites Soft Freight Market
on Aug. 3 announced that both income and revenue fell during the second quarter.
, or 43 cents per diluted share, from $129.8 million, or 73 cents, a year ago. Operating revenue dropped by 23% to $1.35 billion compared with $1.75 billion a year ago. The company attributed the declines to continued soft freight demand.
Results fell just short of Wall Street expectations, as analysts polled by Zacks Consensus Estimate forecast Q2 revenue of $1.46 billion and EPS of 42 cents.
“The second quarter was a continuation of the well-documented challenges in the freight market, and our efforts to prudently adjust costs and enhance productivity are ongoing,” Schneider CEO said in a news release. “Our dedicated new business pipeline remains solid, with several key accounts onboarding through the end of the year and into 2024. We are now fully aligned with our slate of differentiated and complementary rail partners in our Intermodal business, all of which are delivering favorable service and transit times.”
The company said its Q2 operating ratio widened to 90.9 from 87.4 a year ago. Operating ratio measures a company’s expenses as a percentage of revenue and determines efficiency. The lower the ratio, the greater the company’s ability to make a profit.
“Though the second quarter was weaker than anticipated due to increased pricing pressure and muted volumes, we are managing through the difficult environment with our sights set on the path ahead,” Chief Financial Officer said. “We expect challenging conditions to continue through the third quarter followed by a degree of improvement in the fourth quarter due to modest seasonality.”
Across its business units, Schneider said Q2 truckload revenue excluding fuel surcharge slipped to $532.7 million, a 7% decrease compared with $571.6 million in Q2 2022. The company attributed the decline primarily to lower network pricing driven by market conditions.
Schneider’s Q2 intermodal revenue fell 22% to $261 million, compared with the $335.1 million reported in the same quarter in 2022. Again, the company cited lower volume and revenue per order. Orders decreased 14% and revenue per order decreased 8% compared to 2022, Schneider said.
Logistics revenue fell 34% to $343.4 million compared with $521.3 million last year, primarily due to lower spot prices and a 10% decrease in brokerage volume, the company said.
“Our Logistics business continues to advance enterprise value through its scale, technology and Power Only offering,” Rourke said. “We are navigating the current environment from a position of strength, which enables us to remain focused on the strategic advancement of our multimodal portfolio and to capitalize on the eventual recovery.”
Schneider ranks No. 8 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America, and No. 20 on the TT100 logistics list.
