As the Q4 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the ground transportation industry, including ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB) and its peers.

The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, especially last-mile delivery, presenting opportunities for ground transportation companies. The industry continues to invest in data, analytics, and autonomous fleets to optimize efficiency and find the most cost-effective routes. Despite the essential services this industry provides, ground transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins.

The 15 ground transportation stocks we track reported a softer Q4. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 9.4% since the latest earnings results.

ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB)

Historically owning furniture, banking, and other subsidiaries, ArcBest (NASDAQ: ARCB) offers full-truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal deliveries of freight.

ArcBest reported revenues of $972.7 million, down 2.9% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 0.5%. Despite the top-line beat, it was still a softer quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

“2025 was a year of strong execution and meaningful progress for ArcBest,” said Seth Runser, ArcBest President and CEO.

Interestingly, the stock is up 4.5% since reporting and currently trades at $89.16.

Read our full report on ArcBest here, it’s free.

Best Q4: XPO (NYSE: XPO)

Owning a mobile game simulating freight operations for the Tour de France, XPO (NYSE: XPO) is a transportation company specializing in expedited shipping services.

XPO reported revenues of $2.01 billion, up 4.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. The business had an exceptional quarter with an impressive beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a solid beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

XPO delivered the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 7.6% since reporting. It currently trades at $193.26.

Is now the time to buy XPO? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q4: Werner (NASDAQ: WERN)

Conducting business in over a 100 countries, Werner (NASDAQ: WERN) offers full-truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal delivery services.

Werner reported revenues of $737.6 million, down 2.3% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 20.8% since the results and currently trades at $30.

Read our full analysis of Werner’s results here.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL)

With its name deriving from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s nickname, Old Dominion (NASDAQ: ODFL) delivers less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-container load freight.

Old Dominion Freight Line reported revenues of $1.31 billion, down 5.7% year on year. This result met analysts’ expectations. Overall, it was a strong quarter as it also produced a decent beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a decent beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 2.4% since reporting and currently trades at $185.17.

Read our full, actionable report on Old Dominion Freight Line here, it’s free.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE: KNX)

Covering 1.6 billion loaded miles in 2023 alone, Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE: KNX) offers less-than-truckload and full truckload delivery services.

Knight-Swift Transportation reported revenues of $1.86 billion, flat year on year. This number came in 2.4% below analysts' expectations. Overall, it was a softer quarter as it also produced a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 3.8% since reporting and currently trades at $55.73.

Read our full, actionable report on Knight-Swift Transportation here, it’s free.

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