UPS posts stellar Q3 results, raises full-year margin outlook

Adjusted EPS rises 19% year-over-year, operating profit jumps 23.4%

A firm road in Q3 (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

UPS Inc. posted on Tuesday strong third-quarter results and raised its full-year operating margin outlook, sending its shares up sharply in premarket trading.

Earnings per share, on an adjusted and diluted basis, hit $2.71, up nearly 19% compared to the prior-year quarter, the Atlanta-based company (NYSE: UPS) reported. Analysts’ consensus on Barchart was $2.52 a share. Adjusted operating profit of $2.97 billion was up 23.4% year-over-year. Revenue of $23.2 billion increased 9.2% from the prior-year period. Cash from operations rose 26.7% year-over-year, while free cash flow jumped 52.3%, UPS said.

UPS said it raised its 2021 adjusted operating margin target to 13% from prior guidance of 12%. The announcement put a big tailwind in the stock in early-morning trading. As of 7:30 a.m., shares were up $9.23, a 4.5% gain.

The company’s domestic U.S. segment, which accounts for roughly half of total revenue, posted adjusted operating profit of $1.41 billion, up 7.4% from the 2020 quarter. Revenue rose to $14.2 billion from $13.2 billion, led by a 12% gain in revenue for each package shipped. Adjusted operating margin was flat year-over-year at $9.9%.  

The international segment again was a star performer, with revenue of 15.5% and adjusted operating profit of $1.1 billion, up from $972 million. Adjusted margin came in at 22.3%. UPS said the segment experienced strong growth across all its regions.

The supply chain and solutions segment, which includes all nonpackage business, posted an 8.4% revenue increase, led by the freight forwarding and logistics businesses, which grew a combined 35.4% year-over-year. Adjusted operating profit soared to $448 million from $302 million. Adjusted margins came in at 10.5%.

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Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.