2024-07-13 23:07:52 ET
Summary
- Heartland Express has continued to struggle due to weak trucking demand, lower gains on equipment sales, and integration challenges with recent acquisitions tied to the weak operating environment.
- Q2 results should show evidence of stabilization for Heartland, with some sequential improvement in volumes, breakeven operating profits, and further progress in integrating Smith and CFI.
- The outlook for trucking in 2024 is still challenging; volumes and rates have improved some, and operators have left the market, but a slower economy is a real threat.
- Heartland looks undervalued on both longer-term cash flow and near-term EBITDA and EPS, but the risk of miss-and-lower quarters in 2024 remains very real.
When I last wrote about Heartland Express ( HTLD ), I commented that at that point in the trucking cycle it felt as though any lights at the end of the tunnel turned out to be oncoming trains, and so it has continued to be the case. With inventory destocking adding further pressure to volumes and rates, conditions in the trucking sector have remained pretty miserable, dragging Heartland down another 20% or so since my last update....
Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
For further details see:
Heartland Express Needs Some Stronger Beats To Change The Narrative