Yahoo Finance Landstar (LSTR) Lowers Q2 Guidance as Freight Woes Persist
Landstar System’s LSTR management lowered the guidance for second-quarter 2023 revenues and earnings per share owing to continued weakness in freight demand. The trucking company now expects earnings per share the range of $1.75-$1.85 (prior view: $1.9-$2). The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $1.97.
LSTR expects revenues to be between $1.325 billion and $1.375 billion (earlier view: $1.40 billion and $1.45 billion). The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $1.41 billion.
The revised outlook reflected a year-over-year decline of 16-18% in truck load volumes in the first seven weeks of second-quarter 2023. Considering the same time frame, revenue per load on loads hauled via truck were down 14-16% year over year. The expected uptick in freight market conditions during May did not materialize. This contributed to the management’s decision to slash the projections.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Landstar currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks for investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector are Alaska Air Group ALK and Allegiant Travel Company ALGT , each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
On the back of upbeat air-travel demand and favorable pricing, Alaska Air's top line increased 31% year over year in the March quarter. The company expects to boost its fleet and workforce in 2023 to meet the anticipated high demand.
ALK expects second-quarter 2023 total revenues to increase 2.5-5.5% from second-quarter 2022 actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alaska Air's current-year earnings has been revised upward by 9.95% in the past 60 days.
Allegiant is seeing a steady recovery in domestic and leisure air-travel demand. In first-quarter 2023, operating revenues grew 29.9% on a year-over-year basis. Passenger revenues, accounting for 93.7% of the top line, increased 31.3% on a year-over-year basis.
Allegiant's fleet-modernization efforts are encouraging. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALGT's current-year earnings has been revised upward by 40.16% in the past 60 days.
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Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
