Heartland Express (HTLD) Reports Q2 Loss, Misses Revenue Estimates

Core Insights - Heartland Express reported a quarterly loss of $0.04 per share, aligning with the Zacks Consensus Estimate, compared to earnings of $0.10 per share a year ago [3] - The company generated revenues of $274.75 million for the quarter ended June 2024, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.63% and down from $306.17 million year-over-year [4] - Heartland Express has surpassed consensus EPS estimates only once in the last four quarters [2] Financial Performance - The company experienced a loss of $0.19 per share against an expected loss of $0.11 per share, resulting in a surprise of -72.73% [1] - Year-to-date, Heartland Express shares have declined by approximately 12.6%, while the S&P 500 has gained 16.7% [5] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is breakeven on revenues of $280.53 million, and for the current fiscal year, it is -$0.17 on revenues of $1.12 billion [10] Industry Context - The Transportation - Truck industry, to which Heartland Express belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 6% of over 250 Zacks industries [9] - The performance of Heartland Express is likely influenced by the overall outlook of the industry, which can significantly impact stock performance [9] - Another company in the same industry, Werner Enterprises, is expected to report a quarterly earnings decline of 55.8% year-over-year, with revenues projected at $774.54 million, down 4.5% from the previous year [11][12] Future Outlook - The sustainability of Heartland Express's stock price movement will depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and the trends in earnings estimate revisions [5][6] - The current estimate revisions trend for Heartland Express is mixed, resulting in a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold), indicating expected performance in line with the market [8]