C.H. Robinson Q3 earnings: First look

C.H. Robinson reported third-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Here are some highlights.

• C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) management has been touting sequential improvements at the 3PL, because year-on-year comparisons remain weak. Wall Street has responded, with the stock price up more than 22% in the past three months. But the third quarter started to show some better numbers year on year as well.

• Total revenues from the third quarter of 2023 were down 5.19%. But adjusted gross profits rose 8.12%. Income from operations was up 24.63%.

• Sequential comparisons slowed after several quarters of significant increases. For example, total revenues were down 1.88% from the second quarter, and adjusted gross profits were only up 0.24%. Income from operations sequentially rose 5.15%.

• Adjusted earnings per share of $1.28 was about 45.5% more than a year ago and about 10.1% more than the second quarter. The adjusted operating margin improved 660 basis points to 24.5%.

• CEO Dave Bozeman has been pushing various efficiency initiatives at C.H. Robinson. He said in a prepared statement released with the earnings that “we remain on track to deliver greater than 30% compound growth in productivity over the two-year period from the end of 2022 to the end of 2024.”

• There was little change in the stock price after earnings were released. C.H. Robinson stock closed Wednesday at $109.64, up 1.52% on the day.

• According to SeekingAlpha, the $1.28 non-GAAP EPS figure of $1.28 beat the consensus estimate by 13 cents. The total $6.64 billion in revenue beat forecasts by $100 million. 

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