Dj C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. Stock Outperforms Competitors Despite Losses On The Day

C.H. Robinson Worldwide CHRW is benefiting from its cost-reduction initiatives. The company’s shareholder-friendly initiatives also bode well.

Let us delve deep to unearth the factors working in favor of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock.

CHRW’s Northward Earnings Estimates: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter, current-year and next-year earnings has been revised upward 3.8%, 5.8% and 3.3%, respectively, in the past 60 days. Such favorable estimate revisions reflect brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Given the wealth of information at the brokers’ disposal, it is in the best interest of investors to be guided by their expert advice and the direction of their estimate revisions. This is because it serves as a key indicator in determining the price of a stock.

Impressive Price Performance of CHRW: Shares of CHRW have gained 29.3% year to date against its industry’s decline of 6.9%.

Other Tailwinds of CHRW: C.H. Robinson’s efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks are impressive. In August, CHRW hiked its quarterly dividend by 1.6%. In the third quarter of 2024, CHRW returned $77.1 million of cash to its shareholders, including $73 million in cash dividends and $4.1 million through share repurchases.

Efforts to cut costs are driving the bottom line with revenues being weak due to lackluster freight demand. The earnings beat achieved in the third quarter, despite the freight downturn, underscores the effectiveness of the company's pricing strategies and cost-saving measures.

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, operating as Wabtec WAB and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. EXPD. WAB presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while EXPD carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Wabtec, based in Pittsburgh, PA, offers technology-based locomotives, equipment, systems and services for the freight rail and passenger transit industries worldwide.

Wabtec’s top line benefits from higher sales across its Freight and Transit segments. Strong segmental performance driven by an improving economy and restructuring actions have led to a healthy balance sheet that supports its shareholder-friendly stance. EXPD has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters (missed the mark once and met in the other quarter), delivering an average surprise of 4.75%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPD’s 2024 earnings has been revised 6.4% upward in the past 90 days. EXPD has an expected earnings growth rate of 5.79% for 2024. Shares of EXPD have gained 58.5% so far this year.

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Copa Holdings, S.A. CPA reported traffic numbers for October 2024 on the back of upbeat air-travel demand. Driven by high passenger volumes, revenue passenger miles (a measure of traffic) improved on a year-over-year basis in October.

To match the demand swell, CPA is increasing its capacity. In October, available seat miles (a measure of capacity) increased 6.6% year over year. Revenue passenger miles increased 6.5% year over year. Although traffic improved on a year-over-year basis, it failed to outpace capacity expansion. As a result, the load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) fell to 87.4% from 87.6% in October 2023.

Apart from Copa Holdings, we found another airline company, Ryanair Holdings RYAAY, aEuropean carrier, also reported impressive traffic numbers for October 2024.

The number of passengers transported on Ryanair flights was 18.3 million in October 2024, reflecting a 7% year-over-year increase. The October load factor (percentage of seats filled by passengers) of 93% remained flat on a year-over-year basis, reflecting consistent passenger demand for the airline's services. RYAAY operated more than 103,200 flights in October 2024.

To meet the upbeat demand, Ryanair expects its traffic view to grow 8% on a year-over-year basis for fiscal 2025, subject to no worsening of current Boeing delivery delays.

CPA’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance

CPA currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Shares of CPA have gained 10.6% over the past three months compared with 18% growth of the Zacks Airline industry.

Three-Month Price Comparison

Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are C.H. Robinson Worldwide (CHRW) and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD). Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

CHRW has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters (missed the mark in the remaining quarter), delivering an average surprise of 10.29%.

CHRW has an expected earnings growth rate of 32.42% for 2024. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CHRW 2024 earnings has been revised 7.3% upward over the past 90 days. Shares of CHRW have gained 26.2% so far this year.

EXPD has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters (missed the mark in the remaining quarter and met in the other quarter), delivering an average surprise of 4.75%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPD’s 2024 earnings has been revised 6.4% upward over the past 90 days. EXPD has an expected earnings growth rate of 5.79% for 2024. Shares of EXPD have gained 58.5% so far this year.

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