Shares in less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping company Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ: ODFL) soared 53.7% in 2019, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The move is remarkable, considering the difficult economic environment that the industrial-focused shipper has faced in 2019: Industrial production has failed to meet expectations, and a trade war negatively impacted global trade.
As anyone investing in the transportation sector (such as trucking or railroad stocks) knows, revenue can be highly cyclical, and 2019 definitely wasn't a vintage year. That said, just how did Old Dominion generate such good stock performance in 2019?
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