Knight-Swift Q2 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Improve Year Over Year

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc.’s (KNX) second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 35 cents per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny and improved 45.8% year over year. The reported figure came within the guidedrange of 30-38 cents.

Total revenues of $1.86 million missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate marginally by 0.4% and improved 0.8% year over year. Revenues, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge, grew 1.9% year over year to $1.67 billion.

Total operating expenses (on a reported basis) decreased 0.3% year over year to $1.78 billion.

KNX’s Q2 Segmental Results

Revenues (excluding fuel surcharge and inter-segment transactions) from Truckload totaled $1.07 billion, down 2.7% year over year. This was due to a 2.8% decrease in loaded miles.

Adjusted segmental operating income grew 87.5% year over year to $58.40 million. Adjusted operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) fell 260 basis points (bps) to 94.6%.  

The Less-Than-Truckload segment generated revenues (excluding fuel surcharges) worth $337.72 million in the second quarter, up 28.4% year over year as shipments per day increased 21.7% year over year, which includes the acquisition of DHE on July 30, 2024. Revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharge, increased 9.9% year over year, while revenue per shipment, excluding fuel surcharge, increased 7.1% year over year.

Adjusted segmental operating income was down 36.8% year over year to $23.35 million. Adjusted operating ratio rose 720 bps to 93.1% year over year.

Revenues from Logistics (excluding inter-segment transactions) amounted to $128.29 million, down 2.6% year over year. The downside was owing to an 11.7% decline in load count, largely offset by a 10.6% increase in revenue per load. Adjusted operating income increased 13.3% year over year to $6.71 million. The adjusted operating ratio fell 70 bps to 94.8%.

Intermodal revenues (excluding inter-segment transactions) totaled $84.06 million, down 13.8% year over year. The revenue decrease was owing to a 12.4% decrease in load count and a 1.6% decline in revenue per load year over year. Segment operating ratio increased 230 basis points to 104.1%, owing to a 13.8% decline in revenues, partially offset by reductions in cost and improvements in network balance.

Revenues within All Other Segments for the second quarter increased 9% year over year to $74.44 million, owing to the KNX’s warehousing and leasing businesses.

Liquidity

Knight-Swift exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $216.32 million compared with $209.48 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt (excluding current maturities) was $1.39 billion compared with $1.41 billion at the end of the prior quarter.

KNX's Guidance

KNX expects its third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share guidance to be in the range of 36-42 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents lies within the guidance.

Truckload segment revenues are expected to be up in the low single-digit percent sequentially, with operating margins slightly improved sequentially. LTL Segment revenues, excluding fuel surcharge, are expected to grow between 20% and 25% year over year in the third quarter.

Logistics segment revenues and adjusted operating ratio are expected to be fairly stable sequentially. Intermodal segment operating loss is expected to improve sequentially, driven by cost initiatives and volume leverage.

All Other segment operating income, before including the $11.7 million quarterly intangible asset amortization, is expected to lie between $15 million and $20 million in the third quarter, with a fourth quarter sequential step-down similar to prior-year trends.

Net interest expense is expected to be fairly stable sequentially in the third quarter. Net cash capital expenditures for 2025 are expected to be in the range of $525 million-$575 million. Effective tax rate (on adjusted income before taxes) is expected to be 27-28% for the third quarter.

Currently, KNX carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q2 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported second-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding $1.17 per share from non-recurring items) of $2.10 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.04. Earnings decreased 11% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.

Revenues in the June-end quarter were $16.65 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.2 billion and decreasing marginally on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) increased 1% year over year to $15.5 billion. 

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) reported second-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.31 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.34 and declined 0.8% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $2.93 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.94 billion and were flat year over year. JBHT’s second-quarter revenue performance witnessed a 6% increase in Intermodal (JBI) loads, a 13% increase in Truckload (JBT) loads, a 3% increase in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS) productivity and a 6% increase in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) revenue per load. These items were offset by Final Mile Services revenue declining 10%, lower revenue per load in both JBI and JBT, a 9% decrease in ICS load volume and a 3% decline in average trucks in DCS. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, increased 1% on a year-over-year basis.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported mixed second-quarter 2025 results wherein the company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but revenues missed the same.

UAL's second-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $3.87 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny but declined 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $3.25-$4.25.

Operating revenues of $15.2 billion fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.4 billion but increased 1.7% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.8% of the top line) increased 1.1% year over year to $13.8 billion. UAL flights transported 46,186 passengers in the second quarter, up 4.1% year over year.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research