Here's Why Investors Should Bet on Expeditors International Stock Now

Expeditors International of Washington EXPD is thriving on robust cost-cutting initiatives, which are boosting the company’s prospects. Shareholder-friendly initiatives are also encouraging. With these tailwinds, EXPD shares have performed impressively on the bourse. If you have not taken advantage of its share price appreciation yet, now is the time to do so.

Let’s delve deeper.

Factors Favoring EXPD Stock

Northward Estimate Revisions: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2025 earnings has moved 13.2% north in the past 60 days. For the current year and 2026, the consensus mark for earnings has been revised to 6.86% and 7.57% upward, respectively, in the same time frame. The favorable estimate revisions indicate brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Robust Price Performance: A glimpse at the company’s price trend reveals that the stock has had an impressive run so far this year. Shares of EXPD have gained 26.3% over the three months, outperforming the 5.7% rise of the transportation-services industry it belongs to.

Solid Zacks Rank: EXPD currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).  

Positive Earnings Surprise History: EXPD has an encouraging earnings surprise history. The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 13.94%.

Growth Factors: Expeditors’ proactive cost-cutting initiatives are boosting the company’s operating efficiency. In the third quarter of 2025, the total operating expenses amounted to $2.6 billion, decreased by 3.4% year over year.

This decrease was mainly due to 31% fall on a year-over-year basis in expenses associated with ocean freight and ocean services, which accounted for 21% of the total operating cost.

Expeditors continue to demonstrate a strong commitment to shareholder returns. In June 2025, the company increased its semi-annual dividend by 5.5%, raising the payout from $0.73 to $0.77 per share, reflecting its solid cash position and focus on delivering value to investors. In November 2025, EXPD declared a semi-annual cash dividend of $0.77 per share, payable on Dec. 15, 2025, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 1, 2025.

The company has also maintained a consistent track record of rewarding shareholders through both dividend growth and share repurchases. Expeditors raised dividends by 15.5% in 2022 and 3% in 2023, while executing more than $1.5 billion in share buybacks in 2022 alone. This disciplined approach continued in the third quarter of 2025, when EXPD returned $212 million to shareholders through stock repurchases, underscoring a balanced capital allocation strategy and confidence in its long-term financial strength.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the Zacks Transportation sector can also consider LATAM Airlines Group LTM and Global Ship Lease GSL.

LTM currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

LTM has an expected earnings growth rate of 52.6% for the current year. The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and met once in the remaining, delivering an average beat of 29.8%.

Global Ship Lease currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

GSL has an expected earnings growth rate of 2.60% for the current year. The company has an encouraging earnings surprise history. Its earnings topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average beat of 16.8%.

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

Zacks Investment Research