United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) reported first-quarter 2014 results before markets opened Thursday, and no surprise, winter weather was its theme of the day. And no surprise either that shares slipped after the opening bell, along with Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE: LLY), 3M (NYSE: MMM) and Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which also reported earnings early Thursday. The S&P 500 was down in in the wake of early earnings reports, before fighting its way back into positive territory.
Package delivery giant UPS posted diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.98 on revenues of $12.27 billion. In the same period a year ago, the company reported adjusted EPS of $1.04 on revenues of $13.43 billion. Fourth-quarter results also compare to the Thomson Reuters consensus estimates for $1.08 EPS and $13.91 billion in revenues.
The company’s CEO said:
Much of the U.S. economy was negatively affected by the severe weather conditions in the first quarter, resulting in lower UPS operating results versus the prior year. International and the Supply Chain and Freight segment benefitted from positive momentum during the quarter as customers utilized the strategic investments made by UPS to strengthen our portfolio.
Looking forward, the company said:
We are encouraged by the positive trends in our business and expect the remainder of the year to perform as we originally guided. However, due to the challenging start to 2014, we anticipate diluted earnings per share to be at the low end of our full-year guidance range of $5.05 to $5.30.
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Consensus forecasts so far call for UPS to post EPS of $1.25 and revenue of $14.11 billion in the current quarter, as well as $5.19 per share and $58.11 billion for the full year.
Rival FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) posted mixed results in its most recent quarterly report and lowered its full fiscal year guidance due to the effects of inclement weather and rising fuel costs. FedEx next reports in June, and the consensus forecast so far has EPS up more than 9% and revenue up about 2% for the current quarter.
UPS shares were down fractionally in morning trading to $98.69, after briefly rising to $99.69 just after the opening bell. The 52-week range is $84.18 to $105.37. Thomson Reuters had a consensus analyst price target of around $109.68 before the report.
Shares of FedEx also were down in morning trading Thursday.
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