C.H. Robinson revenue falls 4.3%

Freight forwarder C.H. Robinson reported $4.4 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2024, a decline of 4.3% year over year. [caption id="attachment_57137530" align="alignright" width="300"] (Courtesy/C.H. Robinson)[/caption] THE BIG PICTURE: Though the company reported a YoY revenue decline, it is an improvement from Q4 2023 , when the company posted $4.2 billion in revenue, a 16.7% YoY decline. “Although we continue to battle through an elongated freight recession with an oversupply of capacity, I’m optimistic about our ability to continue improving our execution regardless of the market environment,” Chief Executive Dave Bozeman said on the company’s May 1 earnings call. Freight forwarders and cargo airlines generally fared poorly in 2023 — C.H. Robinson reported $17.6 billion in 2023 revenue, down 28.7% YoY — but are seeing signs of recovery in Q1 as rates begin to normalize. BY THE NUMBERS: Eden Prairie, Minn.-based C.H. Robinson reported $858.6 million in revenue for its Global Forwarding division, up 8.7% YoY. The company also reported for Q1: Gross profit was $647.5 million, down 4.5% YoY but up 6.3% from Q4 2023; Adjusted gross profit was $657.7 million, down 4.1% YoY; Adjusted earnings per share were 86 cents, down 14% YoY but up 72% from Q4 2023; Net income was $92.9 million, down 19.1% YoY; Revenue for the North American Surface Transportation division was $3 billion, down 9.2% YoY; Companywide headcount as of March 31 was 14,990, down 11.3% YoY; and Global Forwarding division headcount as of March 31 was 4,876, down 10.9% YoY. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Bozeman attributed the Q1 improvement to the company’s refocusing its strategy on solving problems more quickly and definitively. The new operating model “is rooted in lean methodology,” Bozeman said. “This new way of operating is starting to enable greater discipline, transparency, urgency and consistency in our decision-making based on data and input metrics that can reliably lead to better outputs,” he said. “It’s also setting the tone of how we operate and hold ourselves accountable, helping us make systemic improvements, build operational muscle and drive value at speed.” STATE OF PLAY: The revenue increase in the Global Forwarding segment was primarily driven by higher pricing and volume in the company’s ocean services, according to the earnings report. Adjusted gross profits broke down as: Air: $30.5 million, down 2.5% YoY; Ocean: $112.9 million, up $2.5% YoY; Truckload: $257.4 million, down 10.8% YoY; Less-than-truckload: $141.1 million, up 1.8% YoY; Customs: $26.1 million, up 11.8% YoY; and Other logistics services: $59.6 million, down 8.1% YoY. FLASHBACK: C.H. Robinson ranked 19th on Air Cargo Next ’s Power 25 list of top freight forwarders, forwarding 285,000 tonnes of air cargo in 2022. FUTURE LOOK: C.H. Robinson is exploring uses for generative AI . The company is already using AI to respond to transactional truckload quote emails. “We will continue to scale this technology to cover more customers and other modes,” Chief Operating Officer Arun Rajan said on the call. “Gen AI puts the power of large language models into the hands of our frontline teams. With more data and history to leverage than any other 3PL, we have opportunities to harness the power that generative AI now offers to further capitalize on our information advantage, and we’ll continue to look for and pursue those opportunities.” MARKET REACTION: Shares of C.H. Robinson ( NASDAQ: CHRW ) were up 12.26% from market open to $80.93 as of market close today. The company has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion.

C.H. Robinson revenue falls 4.3%

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