Landstar sees decline in revenue and loads as it wraps up a down year (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — A down year for Landstar System Inc. was capped off with a drop in fourth-quarter revenue, with earnings per share falling by over a third.
Annual revenue for the Jacksonville-based Fortune 500 company came in at $5.3 billion, a nosedive from the $7.4 billion of revenue in 2022.
Q4 revenue was $1.2 billion compared to $1.7 billion the previous year. In 2022, the final quarter had 14 weeks, compared to 13 in 2023: in the previous year, the extra week added about $65 million in revenue, the company said.
Diluted earnings per share for the quarter tumbled to $1.62 from $2.60 in the same quarter a year ago.
The slide in decreased earnings came during a whirlwind of trouble in freight markets during 2023.
Continued soft demand from weakness in the U.S. manufacturing industry, a weaker-than-typical peak season and the continuation of a loose truck capacity market drove Landstar’s revenue by truck load and volume well below the levels of prior years, with the number of loads hauled by truck falling 22% from Q4 of 2022.
Revenue per load declined 10% compared to Q4 of 2022.
The downward slide in numbers comes after record-breaking years in 2021 and 2022.
But Landstar had anticipated a softer freight environment at the start of 2023 compared to the record-breaking years, and CEO Jim Gattoni said it remained resilient despite the challenges of 2023.
Looking ahead, the CEO said “the company is well-positioned to capitalize once freight-market fundamentals improve.”