JB Hunt sell-off puts pressure on transport sector after rally
Updates prices at 2:28 p.m ET/ 1828 GMT, adds commentary
By Sinéad Carew
July 17 (Reuters) -Shares in JB Hunt Transport Services JBHT.O dropped more than 6% on Wednesday, on course to snap a five-day rally and weighing heavily on the broader transportation sector after the trucking company's quarterly report missed expectations.
JB Hunt last traded at $164.17 after closing Tuesday's session at $176, its highest level since April 16, the culmination of a rally in which it gained over 13%.
Other transport companies also lost ground and JB Hunt was the biggest drag on the bellwether Dow Jones Transport average index .DJT, which was down 1.3%.
Late on Tuesday, JB Hunt reported a 24% fall in second-quarter profit and a 7% drop in revenue, both of which missed Wall Street expectations.
Several Wall Street analysts cut their price targets for the stock after the report, while some raised their targets.
"Once again, JBHT's results reflect a freight environment that is still negatively impacted by excess capacity that is pressuring price and margins," wrote Benchmark analyst Christopher Kuhn.
Kuhn kept his buy rating and $185 price target,
and pointed to some encouraging comments from JBHT about
"more normalized seasonal patterns" and a second quarter that felt like pre-pandemic conditions.
Other delivery companies falling on Wednesday included Kirby Corp KEX.N, down 2.9%, Old Dominion ODFL.O, down about 2% and Landstar LSTR.O, off 1.7%. Fedex FDX.N was down 1% while Ryder System R.N dipped 0.8%.
JB Hunt was the second-biggest percentage decliner, behind only Uber Technologies UBER.K in the Dow transports index, which has posted five straight gains, culminating in Tuesday's close at its highest level since August.
The transports index had been rallying with the Dow Industrial Average .DJI, which on Wednesday eyed its sixth-straight daily advance and third-consecutive record-high close.
Despite Wednesday's decline, Ed Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research said he expects the Dow transport stocks to "break out over the rest of this summer and confirm the record high" in the Dow industrials.
Yardeni was citing the popular Dow Theory, which suggests that the market is on a bullish trend when both Dow indexes reach record highs.
Dow Industrials performance vs Dow Transports https://tmsnrt.rs/4cWeoCm
Reporting by Sinéad Carew. Editing by Jane Merriman and Rod Nickel
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
