SA: Expeditors EPS beats by $0.13, beats on revenue

– Diluted Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders per share (EPS¹) increased 22% to $1.12

– Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders increased 19% to $191 million

– Operating Income increased 22% to $252 million

– Revenues increased 19% to $2.5 billion

– Airfreight tonnage volume and ocean container volume both decreased 5%

“Volumes started to recover across most of our products during the quarter, even as the global effects of COVID-19 continued to impact our business worldwide,” said Jeffrey S. Musser, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Similar to Q2, the pandemic caused an increase in demand for certain goods at the same time that air capacity remained tight due to travel restrictions and the limited schedule of domestic and international passenger flights. This caused continued imbalances between carrier capacity and demand, principally on exports out of North Asia, which was the only market in which air volumes increased during the third quarter. To meet the urgent transportation needs that could not be fulfilled with scheduled capacity, we utilized charter capacity for certain customers, resulting in higher average buy and sell rates. While airfreight buy and sell rates were generally lower in our third quarter than the extremes we experienced in the second quarter, they remained historically elevated and highly unpredictable due to ongoing supply/demand imbalances. We would expect air pricing to remain volatile until passenger traffic starts to return in a meaningful way.

“While our ocean freight business has not been nearly as impacted by supply constraints, carriers remain disciplined and are carefully managing capacity even as volumes have increased from the lows we saw earlier in this pandemic. Across most of our products in the third quarter, we experienced a steady recovery in demand as shippers adjusted to an altered marketplace and disrupted supply chains.

“Despite the challenges, we continue to serve our customers at the highest level throughout our organization, whether working from remote locations or on-site at one of our many warehouses, where we are following very strict safety protocols. Thanks to the ongoing implementation of our business continuity plans and the adaptability of our people, all of our offices remain open, connected, and are functioning extremely well. Our network is strong, and our people remain steadfast and highly flexible.”

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