UPS Q1 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Increase Year Over Year

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) first-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 9 cents per share) of $1.49 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.44 and improved 4.2% year over year. Revenues of $21.5 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.1 billion but decreased 0.7% year over year.

Carol Tomé, UPS chief executive officer, stated, "I want to thank all UPSers for their hard work and efforts in this very dynamic environment. As a trusted leader in global logistics, we will leverage our integrated network and trade expertise to assist our customers as they adapt to a changing trade environment. Further, the actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier. The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS."

Other Aspects of Q1 Earnings Report

U.S. Domestic Package revenues of $14.46 billion grew 1.4% year over year, driven by increases in air cargo and a 4.5% improvement in revenue per piece, which partially offset a decline in volume. The actual segmental sales figure was higher than our estimation of $14.37 billion. Segmental operating profit (adjusted) grew 19.3% year over year to $1.01 billion. The adjusted operating margin for the segment was 7%.

Revenues in the International Package division totaled $4.37 billion, which increased 2.7% year over year, owing to a 7.1% increase in average daily volume. The actual segmental sales figure was higher than our estimation of $4.25 billion. Segmental operating profit (adjusted) totaled $654 million, down 4.1% year over year. The adjusted operating margin for the segment was 15%.

Supply Chain Solutions’ revenues of $2.71 billion decreased 14.8% year over year due to the divestiture of Coyote. The actual segmental sales figure was almost in line with our estimation of $2.71 billion. Operating profit (on an adjusted basis) fell 55% year over year to $98 million. The segment's adjusted operating margin was 3.6%.

The overall adjusted operating margin was 8.2%.

UPS’ 2025 Outlook

Considering the current macroeconomic uncertainty, UPS is not providing any updates to its previously issued consolidated full-year outlook.

We note that another player from the Zacks Transportation - Air Freight and Cargo industry, GXO Logistics GXO, will report its first-quarter earnings numbers early next month. (See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.)

GXO Logistics, a pure-play contract logistics provider, is headquartered in Greenwich, CT.  GXO currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.18% and a Zacks Rank of 3. The company is slated to report first-quarter 2025 results on May 7.

Increased e-commerce, automation and outsourcing are likely to aid the company’s results. Cost-cutting efforts are also likely to have boosted GXO's bottom-line performance. The company beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the last four quarters, matched estimates once and missed once, with the average beat being 1.04%.

Zacks Rank of UPS

Currently, UPS carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies

United Airlines

United Airlines’ UAL first-quarter 2025 earnings per share (excluding 25 cents from non-recurring items) of 91 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents. In the year-ago quarter, the Chicago-based airline reported a loss of 15 cents per share. 

Operating revenues of $13.21 billion fell marginally short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.22 billion. The top line increased 5.4% year over year despite the tariff-induced slowdown in domestic air travel demand. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 89.7% of the top line) rose 4.8% to $11.9 billion. UAL flights transported 40,806 passengers in the first quarter, up 3.8% year over year.

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air LinesDAL reported first-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 9 cents from non-recurring items) of 46 cents per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents. Earnings increased 2.2% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.

Revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.04 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $13.81 billion and increasing 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) rose 3.3% year over year to $13 billion.

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