Truck broker Landstar System lowered its second-quarter guidance in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday after the market closed.
The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said both revenue and earnings will come in below the ranges it provided when it reported first-quarter results at the end of April. At the time, the company’s management team said that while the softer market trends experienced in the first quarter had worsened a little in April, it expected a normal seasonal uptick in May.
That didn’t materialize.
The new outlook calls for revenue of $1.325 billion to $1.375 billion, a 5.3% reduction from previous guidance assuming the midpoint of both ranges.
The change is based on loads hauled by truck being down 16%-18% year over year (y/y) in the first seven weeks of the second quarter and revenue per load being off 14%-16%. The prior guide called for declines of 14%-16% and 12%-14%, respectively.
The new range for earnings per share is $1.75 to $1.85, which was lowered by 8% at the midpoint (15 cents lower on each end). The consensus estimate at the time of the Tuesday announcement was $1.97.
Shares of Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) were down 2.9% in after-hours trading on Tuesday.
FreightWaves data shows truck capacity continues to remain loose and spot rates are still searching for a floor. While carriers are hopeful that big-box retailers have burned off excess inventories, no retailer has yet signaled a material need to refill its distribution centers. As such, the industry awaits a more meaningful reduction in carrier operating authorities or a pickup in demand in industrial or consumer-related end markets.
Landstar’s filing said the guidance change was ahead of management’s appearance at Wolfe Research’s annual transportation conference on Wednesday.
At an investor conference last week, management teams from J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ: JBHT) and Schneider National (NYSE: SNDR) stated that little had changed from the commentary they provided on their quarterly calls in April.
Both companies had representatives on an intermodal panel at the Wolfe conference on Tuesday who said they were still waiting for demand to improve and that the outlook for the back half of the year remained uncertain.
More FreightWaves articles by Todd Maiden
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Disappointed Owner operators
From a carrier perspective point of view and strictly talking about Landstar…they need to stop double booking and stop stealing from owner operators!
Carlos🇺🇸
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Kevin walker
Megan yates obviously has never had a contract with landstar or you would understand landstar does not post loads independent agents post loads and landstar does not stand for double booking because they don’t have to they are going to go for the highest rate no mater what
JOE HOWARD
ahh yes, the biggest double broker in the world has a little revenue dip, we’ll say some prayers for them.
ron
so u want landstar to work at a unfair advantage..its all business all boards r there for that
Joseph Weaver
Megan, you are incorrect. Landstar rates on our board is higher than that of DAT or others. This is because Landstar pays the agent/broker directly thus increasing the line haul for us. On the other boards the rate it lower because the broker takes a percentage. If you want to complain about it look at Schneider, JB Hunt, or Knights/Swift
Robert Hassell
Landstar was a great place to work. It has become a nanny state versus a broker business that owners loved to work with. They have become so top heavy with executives and vice presidents for every department! They wont be a fortune 500 company long because they spend too much at their corporate office and not enough on the drivers. If I drove for Landstar 25 years my percentage is still the same as a new driver. You wonder why ppl have no allegiance to them?
Megan yates
Landstar needs to stop taking loads from other load boards then posting it on there load board cheaper. There part of the problem with lower spot rates. They are taking money from the owner operators and smaller companies by doing this. They should be ashamed of themselves.