Landstar Q3 Earnings Miss, Revenues Beat Estimates, Down Y/Y

Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR) third-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of $1.22 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24 and fell 13.5% year over year. Revenues of $1.21 billion marginally surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20 billion but declined 0.4% year over year.

Operating income fell 58.3% from the prior-year quarter’s figure to $26.32 million. Total costs and expenses (on a reported basis) rose 2.4% to $1.18 billion.

Landstar president and chief executive officer, Frank Lonegro, stated, “The Landstar team of independent business owners and employees executed admirably during the 2025 third quarter despite continued challenges in the overall economic environment for truck transportation services. There were two notable highlights in the quarter. First, Landstar continued to experience strong performance in our services hauled by unsided/platform equipment. Second, for the first time since the first quarter of 2022, the Company achieved sequential quarter-over-quarter growth in BCO truck count. Sustained strength over multiple quarters in our unsided/platform business, turning the corner on net BCO truck count and our laser focus on safety, security and delivering great service to our customers will be key elements we will leverage during the next upcycle.”

LSTR’s Q3 Segmental Details

Total revenues in the truck transportation segment — contributing to 90.4% of the top line — amounted to $1.08 billion, down 0.1% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. The reported figure was below our expectations of $1.09 billion.

Rail intermodal revenues of $23.66 million rose 12.8% from the figure recorded in second-quarter 2024. The reported figure was above our expectations of $20.8 million.

Revenues in the ocean and air-cargo carrier segments fell 5.3% year over year to $72.27 million. The reported figure was below our expectations of $77.8 million.

Other revenues decreased 22.9% to $19.57 million. The reported figure was below our expectations of $20.6 million.

Liquidity, Dividends & Buyback

At the end of third-quarter 2025, Landstar had cash and cash equivalents of $375.19 million compared with $359.23 million recorded at the prior-quarter end. Additionally, long-term debt (excluding current maturities) totaled $47.70 million at the end of the third quarter compared with $54.67 million at the prior-quarter end.

During the third quarter of 2025, Landstar purchased 308,709 shares for $40.6 million. LSTR is currently authorized to purchase up to an additional 1,552,813 shares under its longstanding share purchase program.

Landstar’s board of directorsalsoannounced a quarterly cash dividend of 40 cents per share payable on Dec. 9, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on Nov. 18, 2025.

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

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

Q3 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines DAL reported third-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 46 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.71 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.52. Earnings increased 14% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.

Revenues in the September-end quarter were $16.67 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.79 billion and increasing 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Due to improving air-travel demand, adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) increased 4.1% year over year to $15.2 billion. 

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) reported third-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.76 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 and improved 18.1% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3.05 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.02 billion and were down 0.5% year over year. JBHT’s third-quarter revenue performance was hurt by a 1% and 4% decline in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a decrease in load volume of 8% and 1% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), and 8% fewer stops in Final Mile Services (FMS). These items were partially offset by a 3 % improvement in DCS productivity, a 9% increase in revenue per load in ICS and 14% load growth in JBT. Total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell less than 1% year over year.

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

UAL's third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 12 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.78 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.64 but declined 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies above the guided range of $2.25 and $2.75.

Operating revenues of $15.2 billion fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.3 billion but increased 2.6% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.7% of the top line) increased 1.9% year over year to $13.8 billion. UAL flights transported 48,382 passengers in the third quarter, up 6.2% year over year.

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