Schneider Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Down Year Over Year

Schneider National, Inc. (SNDR) reported disappointing fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein the company’s earnings and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of 13 cents missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 21 cents and declined 35% from the year-ago reported quarter figure. Operating revenues of $1.39 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.45 billion but improved 4.5% year over year. Revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) increased 4% year over year to $1.25 billion.

Schneider National, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Schneider National, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Schneider National, Inc. Quote

Mark Rourke, president and chief executive officer of Schneider, stated, “Fourth quarter results fell short of our guidance as a result of softer than expected market conditions beginning in November, particularly for volume, reflecting a very truncated peak season. There was strong improvement in late December reflecting a combination of weather disruption and some positive seasonality being met with thinner supply, a direct result of the accelerated capacity attrition seen in recent months. However, the strength exiting the year was not enough to offset the tempered demand that characterized much of the quarter, as well as spiking third-party carrier capacity costs, unplanned auto production shutdowns with certain customers, and heightened healthcare costs.”

Income from operations (adjusted) fell 14% from the prior-year quarter’s level to $36.5 million.

SNDR’s Q4 Segmental Highlights

Truckload revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the fourth quarter of 2025 came in at $610 million, up 9% year over year, owing to a 21% increase in Dedicated volume, largely attributable to the Cowan Systems acquisition, partially offset by lower Dedicated revenue per truck per week. Truckload revenue per truck per week was $4,004 (down 2% year over year). Dedicated average truck count rose 18% year over year with the acquisition of Cowan in December 2024, while Network average truck count declined slightly.

Truckload income from operations totaled $23 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 16% year over year, owing to increased volume, partially offset by increases in salaries and wages expense and depreciation and equipment-related costs (mainly related to increased headcount and equipment counts, respectively, both resulting largely from the Cowan acquisition). Truckload operating ratio fell to 96.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 96.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Intermodal revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the fourth quarter of 2025 came in at $268.2 million, down 3% year over year, owing to a 5% decrease in revenue per order, related to customer rate and freight mix, partially offset by volume growth of 3%.

Intermodal income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $18.0 million, up 5% year over year. The upside was owing to volume growth and lower purchased transportation costs as a result of lane mix, partially offset by the reduction in revenue per order mentioned above. Intermodal operating ratio fell to 93.3% from 93.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Logistics revenues (excluding fuel surcharge) for the fourth quarter of 2025 came in at $329.3 million, up 2% year over year, owing to the acquisition of Cowan Systems, partially offset by lower legacy brokerage volume.

Logistics income from operations for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $2.6 million, down 69% year over year on the back of lower volume within the brokerage business and net revenue per order within the company’s Power Only offering. Logistics operating ratio rose to 99.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 97.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Liquidity & Cash Flow

Schneider exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $201.5 million compared with $194.1 million at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $390.9 million at the end of the reported quarter compared with $509.8 million at the end of the prior quarter.

SNDR generated $186 million of cash from operations in the reported quarter. Net capital expenditures were $31.5 million.

In February 2023, SNDR announced the approval of a $150.0 million stock repurchase program. As of Dec. 31, 2025, SNDR had repurchased 4.4 million Class B shares for $110.1 million under the program. In January 2026, SNDR’s board of directors authorized a new $150 million share repurchase program, which replaces the existing program.

On Jan. 26, 2026, SNDR’s board of directors declared a dividend hike of 5%, raising its quarterly cash dividend to 10 cents per share from 9.5 cents.The raised dividend (payable to shareholders of record as of March 13, 2026) is expected to be paid on April 8, 2026. As of Dec. 31, 2025, SNDR had rewarded its shareholders with $67 million in the form of dividend payments.

SNDR’s 2026 Outlook

Schneider has unveiled its guidance for 2026. The company expects its 2026 adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of 70 cents–$1.00. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is currently pegged at $1.09.

Full-year effective tax rate is expected to be 24%. The company expects net capital expenditures to be in the range of $400-$450 million. Our estimate is pegged at $275.5 million.

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

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

Q4 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

Delta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.55 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.53. Earnings decreased 16.22% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.

Revenues in the December-end quarter were $16 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.63 billion and increasing 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) increased 1.2% year over year to $14.6 billion. Revenue growth was impacted by about 2 points due to the government shutdown, mainly in the domestic segment, consistent with the company's disclosure last month.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.90 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 and improved 24.2% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3.09 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 billion and were down 1.6% year over year. JBHT’s fourth-quarter revenue performance was hurt by a 2% and 4% decline in revenue per load excluding fuel surcharge revenue in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a 1% decrease in average trucks in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), and a 7% and 2% decline in load volume in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and JBI, respectively. The decrease in revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, was partially offset by a 15% increase in volume in JBT, a 1% uptick in productivity, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, in DCS, and an increase in revenue per load in ICS. Total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased 2% year over year.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported solid fourth-quarter 2025 results wherein the company’s earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

UAL's fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (excluding 9 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.10 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.98 but declined 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $3.00-$3.50.

Operating revenues of $15.4 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate marginally by 0.1% and increased 4.8% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.4% of the top line) increased 4.9% year over year to $13.9 billion. UAL flights transported 45,679 passengers in the fourth quarter, up 3% year over year.

Cargo revenues fell 6% year over year to $490 million. Revenues from other sources rose 9.1% year over year to $981 million.

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

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