Marine transportation service company Kirby (NYSE: KEX) will be announcing earnings results this Thursday before the bell. Here’s what you need to know.
Kirby beat analysts’ revenue expectations by 2.3% last quarter, reporting revenues of $871.2 million, up 4.8% year on year. It was a strong quarter for the company, with an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.
Is Kirby a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members.
This quarter, analysts are expecting Kirby’s revenue to grow 7.7% year on year to $863.8 million, improving from its flat revenue in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $1.63 per share.
Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. Kirby has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates twice over the last two years.
Looking at Kirby’s peers in the transportation and logistics segment, some have already reported their Q4 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. FedEx delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 6.8%, beating analysts’ expectations by 3%, and United Parcel Service reported a revenue decline of 3.2%, topping estimates by 1.8%. FedEx’s stock price was unchanged following the results.
Read our full analysis of FedEx’s results here and United Parcel Service’s results here.
There has been positive sentiment among investors in the transportation and logistics segment, with share prices up 9.3% on average over the last month. Kirby is up 15.7% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $138.50 (compared to the current share price of $128.49).
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