FedEx Stock Climbs On Q3 Results: EPS Beat, $5B Share Buyback

FedEx Corporation FDX shares are up after the company reported its third-quarter financial results after the bell Thursday. Here's a look at the highlights. 

The Details: FedEx reported quarterly earnings of $3.86 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $3.45 by 11.88% and represents a 13.2% increase over earnings of $3.41 per share from the same period last year.

Quarterly sales came in at $21.7 billion, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $22.04 billion by 1.54% and a 2.12% decrease over sales of $22.17 billion from the prior year’s quarter.

The FedEx board of directors authorized a new $5 billion share repurchase program, and the company plans $500 million of share repurchases in the fourth quarter.

“FedEx delivered another quarter of improved profitability in what remains a difficult demand environment, reflecting outstanding service and continued benefits from DRIVE,” said FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam.

“We are making meaningful progress on our transformation, while strengthening our value proposition and improving the customer experience. I’ve never been more confident in our path ahead as we build a more flexible, efficient, and intelligent network,” added Subramaniam.

Ahead of the print, Stifel analyst J. Bruce Chan maintained a Buy rating on FedEx and lowered the price target from $305 to $290 Thursday morning.

Outlook: FedEx updates its fiscal year 2024 guidance to earnings of between $17.25 and $18.25 per share. The company also said it expects permanent cost reductions from the DRIVE transformation program of $1.8 billion.

“DRIVE is having a real impact, supporting both operating income growth and margin expansion,” said John Dietrich, FedEx CFO. “As we look ahead, we’re focused on continuing to deliver on DRIVE and our commitments to support long-term shareholder returns.”

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FDX Price Action: According to Benzinga Pro, FedEx shares are up 10% after-hours at $291.31 at the time of publication.

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