J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is one of the stocks Jim Cramer recently looked at. Cramer discussed the company’s recent quarter during the episode, as he said:
Technically, when J.B. Hunt reported, the numbers were indeed mixed. Nice earnings beat paired with a small revenue miss, and most of that earnings beat came from cost cuts… J.B. Hunt managed to deliver a solid earnings beat altogether, thanks to its cost-cutting efforts. Throw in its $923 million in buybacks last year, hey, that’s a significant amount for this… $20 billion company. And its earnings per share grew by 24% year-over-year. And remember, this is an incredibly well-run trucking company. So overall, J.B. Hunt had pretty solid numbers. I’m not going to scoff at nearly 25% earnings per share growth, even if it is from cost cuts and buyback…
When the freight market turns around, J.B.Hunt should be able to make a fortune. But we’re clearly not there yet, and management doesn’t seem to know how long it will take… Overall, I think this was a fine quarter for J.B. Hunt, if not for the rest of the industry. Company’s strategy for lean freight market is clearly working pretty well, and everything they’re doing right now will put the company in a strong position when the freight market recovers. That said, after the stock’s recent run, J.B. Hunt’s stock now feels pretty darn expensive, trading at over 27 times this year’s earnings estimate…
As long as management isn’t saying anything particularly encouraging about the freight business, it’s tough to justify paying 27 times earnings for this thing… More important, this quarter was definitely not positive for the rest of the trucking space. As J.B. Hunt sees it, the demand situation leaves a lot to be desired. This company is the market leader, so it can do things to take share from its competitors when the market’s weak. But everybody else just has to cope with a bad environment…
Here’s the bottom line: I was watching the J.B. Hunt earnings, remember, they’re the top dog, last night to see if there was a recent rally in the trucking stocks and whether it could be justified with newfound strength in the freight market. But while we got a lot of reasons to like J.B. Hunt, we got very few reasons to feel good about freight in general.
Stock market data showing an upward trajectory. Photo by Burak The Weekender on Pexels
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) provides freight, delivery, and logistics solutions across multiple transportation modes. The company operates extensive fleets of tractors and trailers.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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