« Obscenely Profitable Stock | Main | Random Market Stat of the Day »

This morning, Expeditors (EXPD) reported fourth-quarter earnings of 72 cents a share. However, that included a tax benefit of 19 cents a share. Discounting that, Expeditors earned 51 cents a share, two cents more than Wall Street's estimates. Net sales increased 23%.

"This quarter has to be viewed as a fitting end to what was an outstanding year," said Peter J. Rose, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "Our operating income was 27.6% of net revenue during the fourth quarter of 2004, but this expanded to an amazing 31.3% in 2005 as we were able to handle a significant increase in freight without having to add a commensurate amount of expense. This positive leverage was a result of our ongoing process and productivity initiatives. By every measure, our people did a superb job executing in what was really a very difficult environment: simply put, there was just a bunch of freight out there," continued Rose.

"Air freight volumes were strong during the fourth quarter and ocean freight, which was a little subdued in November 2005 compared with October, came through very strong in December," Rose said. "We think that a 39% operating income increase off of our already sizeable base is extremely indicative of just how well we executed during the busiest time of the year. We just finished recording our second straight one billion dollar quarter and this put us over the top to enjoy our first year with over one billion dollars in net revenue. More than empty talk, these are real measures of progress," Rose concluded.

Posted by edelfenbein at February 14, 2006 9:50 AM