Landstar Reports Record-Setting Q4 Revenue

Landstar

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Landstar System Inc. on Jan. 27 reported record-setting fourth-quarter revenue that helped lift the company’s profits for the period.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based carrier posted net income of $65.1 million, or $1.70 a diluted share, compared with $50 million ($1.27) during the prior-year quarter. Total quarterly revenue reached an all-time high, increasing 26.3% to $1.29 billion compared with $994.9 million at the same time in 2019.

The quarterly results included a previously announced, one-time cost of $15.5 million related to buyouts of certain incentive commission arrangements with several of its independent sales agents. This was due to the discontinuation of a truck owner-operator recruitment and retention program formerly involving those agents.

Gattoni

For the full year, Landstar reported net income of $192.1 million, ($4.98) on revenue of $ 4.13 billion, compared with net income of $227.7 million ($5.72 ) on revenue of $4.08 billion in 2019.

“Landstar’s 2020 fourth-quarter performance was outstanding,” Landstar CEO Jim Gattoni said in a statement. “Revenue, gross profit and diluted earnings per share were each all-time quarterly records.” He also noted that, if the one-time charge were backed out, the company’s Q4 operating income and operating margin would have set quarterly records.

“The achievement of revenue in excess of our guidance updated on Nov. 17, 2020, primarily resulted from the continuing sequential increases Landstar experienced in the number of loads and revenue per load on loads hauled via truck from mid-November through the end of the fiscal year,” Gattoni said.

The results were mixed on Wall Street; analysts had been looking for $1.76 per share in Q4 and quarterly revenue of $1.18 billion, according to Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Total truck transportation revenue hauled by independent business capacity owners and truck brokerage carriers in Q4 was $1.2 billion, or 93% of total revenue. That compared to $911.8 million last year. Truck transportation includes van equipment, platform equipment and less-than-truckload shipments.

Revenue hauled by van equipment was $821 million compared with $571.8 million in Q4 2019. Revenue from platform equipment was $354.1 million compared with $315.2 million, and LTL revenue rose to $26.6 million from 24.8 million last year. The remaining revenue from rail, air and ocean cargo carriers was $75.7 million.

Landstar ranks No. 9 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 41 on the Transport Topics Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies in North America.

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