Shares of Expeditors International of Washington Inc. EXPD dropped 3.1% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the air and ocean freight and customs brokerage company reported fourth-quarter profit and revenue that missed forecasts, amid a “stunning” drop in buy and sell rates and a softening in demand. Net income fell by more than half, to $219.3 million, or $1.39 a share, from $452.8 million, or $2.69 a share, in the year-ago period. The FactSet consensus for earnings per share was $1.98. Revenue declined 36.2% to $3.44 billion, well below the FactSet consensus of $3.97 billion. “As pandemic-related bottlenecks eased and air and ocean supply/demand imbalances began to dissipate in the first half of the year, average buy and sell rates progressively declined to varying degrees, as they typically do – until they suddenly began to plummet simultaneously and faster than we would have expected in the fourth quarter,” said Chief Executive Jeffrey Musser. “The rapid turnaround in Q4 was stunning and unparalleled.” The stock fell 1.9% over the past three months through Friday, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT has climbed 5.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has gained 0.4%.
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