GREENWICH, Conn. – Less than truckload giant XPO reported a strong first quarter, with sales rising 5.8% from last year to just over $2 billion. Gains were driven by higher yield and tonnage per day in North American less-than-truckload, its biggest segment.

Operating income was $138 million, up from $58 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA rose 37.1% from last year. Margins expanded to 14.2% from 11%. Earnings per share came in at $0.81, beating estimates of $0.67.

After earnings were revealed Friday morning, the company saw shares surge 9%.

“Our strong first quarter financial results exceeded expectations, giving us a solid start to 2024,” said Mario Harik, CEO. “In North American LTL, every key operating and financial metric reflected the team’s strong execution of our LTL 2.0 plan.

“We reported a 50% increase in adjusted operating income, with a 390-basis-point improvement in adjusted operating ratio to 85.7%,” Harik added. “This was underpinned by yield growth, ex-fuel, of 9.8% and an acceleration in revenue per shipment. Our tonnage per day was 2.6% higher than in the first quarter a year ago, with 4.7% more shipments per day.

“We also delivered one of the best damage claims ratios in the industry at 0.3%,” he continued. “While we’ve made significant progress in executing our LTL 2.0 plan, we’re still in the early stages of unlocking our full potential.”

In North American LTL, revenue came in at $1.22 billion, a 9% gain from last year. Shipments per day increased 4.7% and tonnage per day rose 2.6%.

In Europe, the company saw gains as well – but not as extreme. It reported $797 million in revenue, a 1.3% increase from last year. Operating income was a loss of $4 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $3 million for the same period in 2023.

The company also reported a loss on the corporate side, at $23 million.

Last quarter, the company reported a revenue increase of 6%.

See also:

• XPO reports strong quarter, $110M gain in revenue
• XPO says Q3 ‘exceeds expectations’

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