Key takeaways from J.B. Hunt’s Q4 financial results

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ: JBHT) on Tuesday said its profit and revenue topped Wall Street estimates in the fiscal fourth quarter. Shares weren’t much bothered in extended trading.

Q4 financial performance

J.B. Hunt reported $242.2 million in profit versus the year-ago figure of $154 million. On a per-share basis, its profit printed at $2.28. The transportation company generated $3.5 billion in revenue that represents an annualised growth of 28%.

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According to FactSet, experts had forecast $2.02 of per-share profit on $3.28 billion in revenue. J.B. Hunt’s full-year results also showed a significant increase compared to fiscal 2020. Last week, the logistics firm partnered with Waymo Via to complete fully autonomous transport in Texas in the next few years. Executive vice president Craig Harper said:

We believe autonomous driving technology will help us create the most efficient transportation network in North America, and our collaboration with Waymo is a pivotal step toward fulfilling that mission.

Other notable figures

In the earnings press release, J.B. Hunt said its revenue was up in all business segments. Truckload was up 85% YoY, Integrated Capacity Solutions up 26%, Dedicated Contract Services up 25%, Intermodal up 26%, and Final Mile Services up 4.0%.

The Nasdaq-listed company had $356 million in cash and equivalents as of December 31^st with $1.30 billion in total outstanding debt that remained largely unchanged from a year ago. The company topped estimates in the previous quarter as well.

J.B. Hunt spent $15 million to repurchase 76,000 of its common shares in Q4. Another $351 million is still pending under current authorisation for stock repurchase. JBHT had a fantastic 2021 with a 35% gain in the stock price.