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What to Look for in FedEx Earnings

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FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter financial results Wednesday after the markets close. The consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters are calling for $2.35 in earnings per share (EPS) on $12.40 billion in revenue. In the same period of last year, FedEx posted EPS of $2.03 and revenue of $11.70 billion.

This company is having the same problems as UPS. Neither company has been able to cut costs, and FedEx’s bottom line has struggled along with its competitor’s. FedEx is the smaller, slightly more risky company of the two, with not as good a dividend. But a bet on the package delivery industry becoming more economical in 2016 in light of record demand could see FedEx have a good year — perhaps even better than UPS, if both can increase efficiency.

For the fiscal second quarter, FedEx posted solid earnings despite continued weakness in industrial production and global trade, and it is making impressive progress toward its goals to increase margins, earnings per share, cash flow and returns on invested capital. A record number of holiday shipments, fueled by the steady rise of e-commerce, flowed through the FedEx global networks.

A few analysts weighed in on FedEx ahead of the earnings report:

  • Wells Fargo reiterated a Sector Perform rating.
  • Credit Suisse has an Outperform rating with a $184 price target.
  • Citigroup reiterated a Buy rating.
  • RBC Capital has a Sector Perform rating with a $153 price target.
  • Morgan Stanley reiterated an Equal Weight rating with a $132 price target.

So far in 2016, FedEx has underperformed the broad markets, with the stock down 3%. Over the past 52 weeks, the stock is down over 16%.

Shares of FedEx were trading down 1.4% at $141.78 midday Tuesday, with a consensus analyst price target of $174.00 and a 52-week trading range of $119.71 to $185.19.

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