First Quarter Earnings

Check Call: That lemonade stand looks rough

Check Call: That lemonade stand looks rough

Welcome to Check Call, our corner of the internet for all things 3PL, freight broker and supply chain. Check Call the podcast comes out every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Catch up on previous episodes here. If this was forwarded to you, sign up for Check Call the newsletter here.

In this edition: Earnings season highlights, the rise in flatbed demand and Roadcheck starts Wednesday.

(Image: makeameme.org)

How’d the lemonade stand do? This earnings season...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/check-call-that-lemonade-stand-looks-rough

Rail investors hope for better 2nd half of 2022

The second half of the year could be the time when the Class I railroads rebound from their service challenges and see performance improvements because of the railroads’ springtime efforts to bolster train and engine employee ranks, investors and industry observers told FreightWaves.

The additional conductors and train engineers who will be working for the railroads in the second half of the year will “help tremendously with some of the [railroads’] ability to preserve efficiencies within the...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-investors-hope-for-better-2nd-half-of-2022

BNSF’s net income grew 10% in Q1 despite volume dip

A photograph of a train hauling intermodal containers across a field.

BNSF’s first-quarter 2022 net profit rose 10% despite a 3% decline in volumes, the company reported Monday.

First-quarter 2022 net income was $1.37 billion, compared with $1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2021. BNSF is a privately held company whose parent is Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.B).

Total revenues grew 10% to nearly $5.97 billion amid a 14% gain in average revenue per unit, which in turn was supported by higher fuel surcharge revenue. 

Volumes slipped 3%, with gains in industrial...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/bnsfs-net-income-grew-10-in-q1-despite-volume-dip

Hub Group says it can sustain revenue growth amid unknowns

A photograph of a train hauling intermodal containers.

Hub Group is confident it can withstand any macroeconomic uncertainties that could come in the second half of 2022, executives said during the company’s first-quarter 2022 earnings call. 

“There’s been a great deal of discussion of late on spot rate declines and a looming recession,” Chairman and CEO Dave Yeager told investors during the Thursday call. “While no company is immune to an economic downturn, I strongly believe Hub Group is well positioned for growth through 2022 and into 2023 and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/hub-group-says-it-can-sustain-revenue-growth-amid-unknowns

Canadian Pacific eyes early 2023 federal approval of KCS acquisition

A photograph of a Canadian Pacific train traveling through a forest near the mountains.

Canadian Pacific still expects federal approval of its planned acquisition of Kansas City Southern to occur sometime within the next 12 months, despite a recent pause in the proceeding.

CP (NYSE: CP) anticipates that a ruling from the Surface Transportation Board will come by early 2023 at the latest, President and CEO Keith Creel told investors during CP’s first-quarter 2022 earnings call.

“We’re certainly optimistic things will be restarted soon,” Creel told investors Wednesday afternoon. STB...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/canadian-pacific-eyes-early-2023-federal-approval-of-kcs-acquisition

Norfolk Southern launching operational plan for intermodal and bulk

A close-up photograph of a railcar with the NS logo on it.

Norfolk Southern is preparing to launch the next stage of its streamlined operational plan, with improving intermodal and bulk moves being the target, executives said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call Wednesday morning.

The plan, Top SPG, which stands for service, productivity and growth, will be launched sometime late in the second quarter of this year. It is a continuation of the precision scheduled railroading-inspired Top 21 plan that targeted creating efficiencies in NS’...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/norfolk-southern-launching-operational-plan-for-intermodal-and-bulk

CN working to get its groove back after income slide

A photograph of a CN train traveling through a forest.

Canadian railway CN is reassessing its operating plan to see where there are opportunities to take on more business while also striving to maintain network fluidity and increase velocity, executives said during the railway’s earnings call late Tuesday to discuss first-quarter 2022 financial results.

This network balancing comes as CN (NYSE: CNI) adjusted its earnings guidance for 2022 amid a first quarter that experienced operating challenges due to harsh winter conditions and macroeconomic...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cn-working-to-get-its-groove-back-after-income-slide

CSX says adding more engineers and conductors will improve service

A photograph of a CSX train on a track nearby a rail yard.

Sufficient train and engine employees is the “one thing” CSX needs to bring service back to 2019 levels, and recent hiring initiatives will bring the company closer to that goal, executives said during the railroad’s first-quarter 2022 earnings call Wednesday. 

“We need more people in the engineer and conductor ranks. That’s it,” President and CEO Jim Foote told investors on the call.

CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) is short on neither locomotives nor physical infrastructure, and the railroad has the capacity...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/csx-says-adding-more-engineers-and-conductors-will-improve-service

Rising steel costs, Ukraine conflict shape GATX’s view of 2022

A photograph of a GATX tank car next to other tank cars in a rail yard,

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia isn’t likely to affect the North American business of railcar lessor GATX, although the company’s European arm is seeing some operational impact, executives said during GATX’s first-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

While GATX’s profit from its international segment is unlikely to be affected, the company is exposed operationally. GATX (NYSE: GATX) is the leading railcar lessor in Poland, according to CFO Thomas Ellman. It also has a large railcar...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rising-steel-costs-ukraine-conflict-shape-gatxs-view-of-2022

Greenbrier: Pent-up demand, sustainability could drive production in 2023

“Heavy” scrap rates of older railcars in the U.S., coupled with global mandates supporting the use of freight rail over competing and carbon-intensive transportation modes, could bode well for railcar manufacturer Greenbrier in 2023 and beyond.

Industry projections forecast that around 60,000 railcars will be built in 2023 as new railcars not only replace the scrapped cars but are also built in response to market conditions, executives with the Lake Oswego, Oregon-based company told investors...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/greenbrier-pent-up-demand-sustainability-could-drive-production-in-2023

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