FedEx Q3 Revenues Top View, Suspends Outlook Due To Coronavirus

(RTTNews) - FedEx Corp. (FDX) Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street estimates, but revenues trumped expectations. The package delivery giant suspended its outlook due to ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.

Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx's third-quarter profit dropped to $315 million or $1.20 per share from $739 million or $2.80 per share last year.

Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $1.41 per share, down from $3.03 per share last year. On average, 21 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $1.43 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter rose to $17.5 billion compared to $17.0 billion last year. Wall Street analysts had a consensus estimate of $16.9 billion.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact around the world," said CEO Frederick Smith. "We continue to deliver for our customers and are ready to support increased demand for our International Express export services due to the significant reductions in intercontinental air capacity. While the global economic impact from recent social-distancing mandates is uncertain, we remain well positioned to assist our customers as they work to manage their supply chains and inventories. We will continue to support efforts to combat the pandemic."

Fedex CFO Alan Graf said that the company is suspending its fiscal 2020 earnings forecast for consolidated and segment results due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

"To mitigate these near-term headwinds and position the company for future earnings growth, we are attacking costs throughout the company by managing capacity, retiring our oldest and least-efficient aircraft, integrating TNT Express, and lowering our residential delivery costs by having FedEx Ground deliver FedEx SmartPost and certain day-definite FedEx Express packages," Graf added.

FDX closed Tuesday's trading at $94.96, up $4.47 4.94%, on the NYSE. The stock further gained $1.79 or 1.89% in the after-hours trading.