The end of an earnings season can be a great time to discover new stocks and assess how companies are handling the current business environment. Let’s take a look at how Kirby (NYSE:KEX) and the rest of the marine transportation stocks fared in Q1.
The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, presenting opportunities for marine transportation companies. While ocean freight is more fuel efficient and therefore cheaper than its air and ground counterparts, it results in slower delivery times, presenting a trade off. To improve transit speeds, the industry continues to invest in digitization to optimize fleets and routes. However, marine transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins. Geopolitical tensions can also affect access to trade routes, and if certain countries are banned from using passageways like the Panama Canal, costs can spiral out of control.
The 5 marine transportation stocks we track reported an ok Q1; on average, revenues missed analyst consensus estimates by 1.4%. Inflation progressed towards the Fed's 2% goal at the end of 2023, leading to strong stock market performance. The start of 2024 has been a bumpier ride, as the market switches between optimism and pessimism around rate cuts due to mixed inflation data, but marine transportation stocks have shown resilience, with share prices up 5.4% on average since the previous earnings results.
Best Q1: Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Spun off from Kirby Industries, Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) operates as a maritime transportation and services provider.
Kirby reported revenues of $808 million, up 7.7% year on year, exceeding analysts' expectations by 2.5%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' earnings estimates and a decent beat of analysts' Marine Transportation revenue estimates.
David Grzebinski, Kirby’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are off to a solid start in 2024. Both of our segments performed well during the quarter, delivering improved revenue and operating income and our team executed well despite weather related delays in the marine transportation segment and continuing supply chain delays in distribution and services. We continue to see favorable fundamentals as 2024 progresses, and we expect steady quarterly earnings progression for the remainder of the year.
Kirby pulled off the biggest analyst estimates beat of the whole group. The stock is up 19.8% since reporting and currently trades at $121.08.
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Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG) Operating one of the youngest fleets in the industry, Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG) is an international provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the shipment of refined petroleum.
Scorpio Tankers reported revenues of $389.8 million, up 3.3% year on year, outperforming analysts' expectations by 2.1%. It was a very strong quarter for the company with a decent beat of analysts' earnings estimates.
The market seems content with the results as the stock is up 1.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $76.41.
Weakest Q1: Genco (NYSE:GNK) Headquartered in NYC, Genco (NYSE:GNK) is a shipping company that transports dry bulk cargo along worldwide maritime routes.
Genco reported revenues of $79.09 million, up 42.5% year on year, in line with analysts' expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company with a miss of analysts' earnings estimates.
As expected, the stock is down 8% since the results and currently trades at $20.85.
Matson (NYSE:MATX) Founded by a Swedish orphan, Matson (NYSE:MATX) is a provider of ocean transportation and logistics services.
Matson reported revenues of $722.1 million, up 2.5% year on year, in line with analysts' expectations. More broadly, it was a good quarter for the company with a decent beat of analysts' earnings estimates.
The stock is up 16.5% since reporting and currently trades at $125.45.
Pangaea (NASDAQ:PANL) Established in 1996, Pangaea Logistics (NASDAQ:PANL) specializes in global logistics and transportation services, focusing on the shipment of dry bulk cargoes.
Pangaea reported revenues of $104.7 million, down 7.9% year on year, falling short of analysts' expectations by 10.8%. Zooming out, it was a mixed quarter for the company with an impressive beat of analysts' earnings estimates.
Pangaea had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 2.8% since reporting and currently trades at $7.56.
This content was originally published on Stock Story
