ArcBest Corp. posted record revenues and profits in the second quarter thanks to strong pricing and shipment growth of 2%, which helped the company’s asset-based group lower its operating ratio by more than four percentage points.
Arkansas-based ArcBest earned nearly $103 million in the three months ended June 30, an increase of more than 60% from the prior-year period. Revenues climbed about 47% to nearly $1.4 billion, boosted by revenue per shipment climbing nearly 20% and November’s acquisition of truckload broker MoLo Solutions. The company’s tonnage rose 3.7% during the quarter to more than 882,000.
“Strong growth in key services like truckload and managed solutions is proof that we are responsive to our customers’ needs and that our strategy is working,” Judy McReynolds, ArcBest chairman, president, and CEO, said on a conference call with analysts. “ArcBest is firing on all cylinders.”
Momentum at ArcBest, the No. 27 carrier on the 2022 FleetOwner For-Hire 500, has carried into the third quarter, executives said.
Preliminary numbers show that shipments have been flat versus a year ago, but total tons per day are up 6%, and revenue per day has risen 18% at ArcBest. Part of the growth tailwinds, the ArcBest team said, is that many shippers are, after more than two years of pandemic-created upheavals, increasingly focused on being smarter with their decisions.
“They are thinking more about how to build more sustainable supply chains, thinking about efficiency,” Chief Customer Officer Dennis Anderson said. “And we are well-positioned. Our sales force is excited about the managed solutions that we offer, the truckload business that we can bring to the table.”
Also discussed in ArcBest’s earnings report and on its conference call was a downward revision in its 2022 capital spending estimate to a range of $240 million to $250 million from the previous forecast of $270 million to $290 million. CFO David Cobb said the call is due to supply chain-related delays at companies building 28-foot trailers and that ArcBest still expects to receive all the tractors it has ordered for this year.
Shares of ArcBest (Ticker: ARCB) rose about 1% July 29 to $88.60. Year to date, however, they are still down about 20%, trimming the company’s market capitalization to about $2.2 billion.
