Canadian Pacific Q4 Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates, Improve Y/Y

Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP) reported unimpressive fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein both earnings and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Quarterly earnings (excluding 9 cents from non-recurring items) of 95 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 99 cents. The bottom line improved 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Operating revenues of $2.81 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.86 billion. However, the top line improved 1.6% on a year-over-year basis.

In the reported quarter, total Freight revenues per revenue ton miles grew 1% year over year. Total Freight revenues per carload declined marginally by 0.1% year over year.

On a reported basis, operating income increased 3% year over year. Total operating expenses fell 0.2% year over year. The reported operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) fell 80 basis points to 58.9% from the year-ago quarter.

CP’s Segmental Highlights

Freight revenues, accounting for 98% of the top line, increased 1%. CP’s Freight segment contains Grain (up 4%), Coal (up 3%), Potash (down 2%), Fertilizers and Sulphur (up 1%), Metals, minerals and consumer products (up 3%), Automotive (down 1%) and Intermodal (up 3%). Meanwhile, Energy, chemicals and plastics and Forest products fell 2% and 12%, respectively.

Other revenues increased 26% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025.

CP’s Liquidity

CP exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of C$184 million compared with C$411 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt amounted to C$19.94 billion compared with C$21.59 billion at the prior-quarter end.

CP’s Outlook

Canadian Pacific expects 2026 core adjusted earnings per share to grow in the low double-digits from the 2025 actuals to C$4.61 per share.

The company expects 2026 RTMs to increase in the mid-single digits from the 2025 actuals.

Management expects capital expenditures to be C$2.65 billion for the full year. The core adjusted effective tax rate for 2026 is expected to be 24.75%.

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