C.H. Robinson Q3 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Increase Year Over Year

C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. (CHRW) reported mixed third-quarter 2025 results, wherein earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues missed the same.

Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.40 outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.29 and improved 9.3% year over year. Total revenues of $4.14 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.29 billion and declined 10.9% year over year, owing to the divestiture of CHRW’s Europe Surface Transportation business, lower pricing and volume in the ocean services and lower pricing in the truckload services. This was partially offset by higher volume in the truckload services.

In the third quarter, CHRW witnessed sustained outperformance on the back of disciplined execution of the company's strategic initiatives, which led to solid market share gains, gross margin expansion and higher operating margins.

Adjusted gross profits fell 4% year over year to $706.1 million, owing to lower adjusted gross profit per transaction and volume in the company’s ocean services and the divestiture of its Europe Surface Transportation business. This was partially offset by higher adjusted gross profit per transaction in the less than truckload (LTL) and customs services and higher volume in the truckload services.

Adjusted operating margin of 31.3% increased 680 basis points from the year-ago reported quarter. Operating expenses declined 12.6% year over year to $485.2 million.

CHRW’s Q3 Segmental Results

North American Surface Transportation’s total revenues were $2.96 billion (up 1.1% year over year) in the third quarter, owing tohigher volumes in both the truckload and LTL services, partially offset by lower pricing in truckload services.The actual segmental sales figure was above our expectation of $2.95 billion. Adjusted gross profits of the segment grew 5.6% year over year to $444.14 million.

Total revenues from Global Forwarding fell 31.1% year over year to $786.34 million, owing to lower pricing and volume in the company’s ocean services. The actual segmental sales figure was below our expectation of $799.6 million. Adjusted gross profits fell 18.3% to $191.75 million.

Revenues from other sources (Robinson Fresh, Managed Services and Other Surface Transportation) decreased 32.4% year over year to $384.80 million. The actual segmental sales figure was below our expectation of $460.6 million.

Below, we present the division of adjusted profits among the service lines (on an enterprise basis).

Transportation: The unit (comprising Truckload, LTL, Ocean, Air, Customs and Other logistics services) delivered an adjusted gross profit of $693.23million in the quarter under consideration, up 0.8% from the prior-year figure.

Adjusted gross profits of LTL, Air and Customs grew 4.4%, 11.5% and 31.7%, year over year, respectively. Truckload, Ocean and Other logistics services declined adjusted gross profits by 2.3%, 7.5% and 1.5%, year over year, respectively.

Balance-Sheet Data

CHRW exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $136.83 million compared with $155.99 million at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $1.18 billion compared with $922.31 million at the end of the prior quarter.

CHRW generated $275.4 million of cash from operations in the third quarter of 2025, up from $108.1 million generated in the year-ago quarter. The $167.4 million increase in cash flow from operations was owing to a $65.8 million increase in net income and a $144.5 million decrease in cash used by changes in net operating working capital.

In the third quarter of 2025, CHRW returned $189.6 million to shareholders, which includes $74.7 million of dividend payments and $114.9 million in the form of share repurchases.

Capital expenditures totaled $18.6 million in the reported quarter.

For 2025, CHRW continues to expect capital expenditures between $65 million and $75 million.

Currently, CHRW carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). 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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