What to Look for in FedEx Earnings

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 13, 11:55AM EST · Published Mar 15, 12:10PM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

What to Look for in FedEx Earnings — © Thinkstock

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.
[nativounit]
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.

About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.