Schneider Q3 Earnings Lag Estimates, Down Y/Y, '25 EPS View Lowered

Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR) third-quarter 2025 earnings per share (EPS) of 12 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 cents and declined 33.3% from the year-ago reported quarter figure. Operating revenues of $1.45 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43 billion and improved 10.4% year over year. Revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) increased 10% year over year to $1.29 billion.

Mark Rourke, president and chief executive officer of Schneider, stated, “Our third quarter results benefitted from our acquisition of Cowan Systems, as well as ongoing cost, productivity, and revenue initiatives, though these were offset by claims costs that were $16.0 million, or $0.07 earnings per share, greater than our previous guidance. During the quarter, the market strength experienced in the latter half of July faded as the quarter progressed with August and September trends largely sub-seasonal.”

Income from operations (adjusted) fell 13% from the prior-year quarter’s level to $38.4 million.

SNDR’s Q3 Segmental Highlights

Truckload revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the third quarter of 2025 were $624.5 million, up 17% year over year, owing to a 22% increase in Dedicated volume (mainly due to the acquisition of Cowan Systems). Truckload revenue per truck per week was $3,923, down 1% year over year, owing to a decrease in productivity and friction associated with new Dedicated business startups. Dedicated average truck count rose 28% year over year, while Network average truck count grew slightly.

Truckload income from operations came in at $19.8 million in the third quarter of 2025, down 16% year over year owing to increases in salaries and wages expense (primarily related to increased headcount from the Cowan acquisition), insurance related costs primarily due to prior-year claims development, friction costs related to new business startups, and depreciation and equipment related costs primarily driven by increased equipment counts from the Cowan acquisition. Truckload operating ratio rose to 96.8% in the third quarter of 2025 from 95.5% in the third quarter of 2024.

Intermodal revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the third quarter of 2025 were $281.4 million, up 6% year over year, owing to volume growth of 10%, partially offset by a decrease in revenue per order of 2% (due to shorter length of haul).

Intermodal income from operations for the third quarter of 2025 was $16.8 million, up 7% year over year, owing to the volume growth cited above, partially offset by a decrease in length of haul, and increased insurance-related costs driven by prior year claims development and maintenance costs. Intermodal operating ratio fell to 94.0% from 94.1% in the third quarter of 2024.

Logistics revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the third quarter of 2025 came in at $332.1 million, up 6% year over year, owing to the acquisition of Cowan Systems, partially offset by lower brokerage volume.

Logistics income from operations for the third quarter of 2025 of $6.4 million fell 16% year over year, owing to lower brokerage volume, partially offset by the Cowan revenue impacts and growth in Power Only net revenue per order. Logistics operating ratio rose to 98.1% in the third quarter of 2025 from 97.6% in the third quarter of 2024.

Liquidity & Cash Flow

Schneider exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $194.1 million compared with $160.7 million at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $509.8 million at the end of the reported quarter compared with $512.7 million at the end of the prior quarter.

SNDR generated $184.2 million of cash from operations in the third quarter. Net capital expenditures were $108.1 million.

In February 2023, SNDR announced the approval of a $150.0 million stock repurchase program. As of Sept. 30, 2025, SNDR had repurchased a total of 4.1 million Class B shares for $103.9 million under the program.

On Oct. 27, 2025, SNDR’s board of directors declared a $0.095 dividend payable to shareholders of record as of Dec. 12, 2025, expected to be paid on Jan. 12, 2026. As of Sept. 30, 2025, SNDR had returned $50.3 million in the form of dividends to shareholders year to date.

SNDR’s 2025 Outlook

Darrell Campbell, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Schneider, stated, “The challenging insurance dynamics that have pressured the industry in recent years weighed on third quarter results as we saw the impact of adverse development of three claims associated with 2021 and 2023 policy years. The timing has masked some of the traction we are seeing on our efforts to lower our cost to serve and deliver on our focused revenue strategies. We expect earnings improvement in the fourth quarter as we continue to execute on these efforts. However, recent sub-seasonal trends are likely to persist for the balance of the year. Several new dynamics have been introduced over the last few months that are definitive catalysts for the removal of excess capacity, including regulatory enforcement actions, which have the potential to significantly change the supply dynamics of the industry. As we continue to grapple with macro uncertainty, we will remain disciplined on capital allocation and are well positioned to act opportunistically to enhance shareholder value including through accretive acquisitions and shareholder returns.”

Schneider has updated its guidance for 2025. The company has reduced its 2025 adjusted earnings per share guidance to approximately 70 cents from the previously guided range of 75 – 95 cents. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at 82 cents.

The company now expects net capital expenditures to be around $300 million from the prior guided range of $325-$375 million. Our estimate is pegged at $357 million.

Full-year effective tax rate is now expected to be 24% from the prior guidance of 23- 24%.

Currently, SNDR 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.

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