Knight-Swift to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Cards?

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. KNX is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan. 21, after market close.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KNX’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings has been revised downward by 5.3% in the past 60 days to 36 cents per share. However, the consensus mark implies flat earnings compared with the year-ago actuals. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KNX’s fourth-quarter 2025 revenues is pegged at $1.90 billion, indicating 1.8% growth year over year.

Knight-Swift has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the preceding four quarters (lagged in the remaining quarter), the average beat being 2.06%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. price-eps-surprise | Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. Quote

Let’s see how things have shaped up for KNX this earnings season.

Factors Likely to Have Influenced KNX’s Q4 Performance

The company’s top-line performance in the fourth quarter is expected to have been hurt by inflationary pressure, high interest rates, tariff-related uncertainties, weak freight demand and supply-chain disruptions.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Truckload revenues is pegged at $1.25 billion. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Less-Than-Truckload revenues is pegged at $364.65 million, indicating a 13.7% increase from the fourth quarter of 2024 reported number.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Logistics revenues is pegged at $163.53 million, indicating a 2.7% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2024 reported number. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Intermodal revenues is pegged at $100.57 million, indicating a 1.6% increase from the fourth quarter of 2024 reported number.

On the flip side, high costs related to driver wages, equipment, maintenance, fuel and other expenses are likely to have continued weighing on Knight-Swift’s bottom line. KNX’s financial metrics indicate that its leverage is elevated, which is a massive negative for its shareholders.

What Our Model Says About KNX

Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for KNX this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy), or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. However, that’s not the case here. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Knight-Swift has an Earnings ESP of -1.04% and a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.

Highlights of Q3

Knight-Swift’s third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of 32 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 38 cents and declined 5.8% year over year. The reported figure also came in below the company’s guided range of 36-42 cents.

Total revenues of $1.92 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.89 million and improved 2.7% year over year. Revenues, excluding truckload and LTL fuel surcharge, grew 2.4% year over year to $1.72 billion.

Stocks to Consider

Here are a few stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector that investors may consider, as our model shows that these have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle. 

Canadian National Railway CNI has an Earnings ESP of +0.40% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present, and is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 results on Jan. 30.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings has been revised upward by 1.43% at $1.42 per share over the past 60 days. CNI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters and missed twice in the remaining, the average miss was 0.1%. 

United Parcel Service UPS has an Earnings ESP of +0.64% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.  UPS is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2025 earnings on Jan. 27. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2025 earnings has been revised 2.29% upward over the past 60 days. UPS’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the preceding four quarters and missed in the remaining one, the average beat being 11.2%. 

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