Earnings Preview: J.B. Hunt

J.B Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) is expected to report Q2 earnings after market close Tuesday, July 15,  with a conference call after the market close on Tuesday.

Guidance

Analysts are looking for EPS of 36c on revenue of $925.4M. The consensus range is 33c to 41c for EPS, and $863M to $962.06M for revenue, according to First Call.

Analyst Views

J.B Hunt's Q1 earnings report missed expectations in April, however Robert W Baird retained its Outperform rating for the company due to its intermodal franchise and prospects for early cycle sentiment. The firm stated on July 3, it would use pullbacks to accumulate J.B Hunt given the strong YTD stock appreciation. The firm also noted said the group has more balanced risk/reward at current levels and believes an upside exists with freight recovery.

The company was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Merrill Lynch in May, based on growth in the intermodal market and TL opportunities.

Comments

[mikemichaelson]

Earnings and projections should be a disaster for J.B. Hunt. The market and analysts are resting their hopes on the intermodal segment of JB Hunt. This quarter should quickly change their opinion. I own a furniture business and every carrier we use that I have talked to is experiencing a significant slowdown.

Rising fuel costs and a weakening customer demand due to a significant slowdown in the U.S. will seriously crimp JBHT's earnings and projections for a rebound will be pushed off until at least 2010. JBHT has a very high debt load relative to cash and assets and currently trades at over 10 times book value and a very high multiple on earnings.

[Tavares]

I put on a small short position of 55 shares @32.98. In my analysis, I seen alot of inside selling on this stock and that sparked my curiousity with this company going forward eventhough they was able to beat the street this quarter. I see this as an investment that will pay off in the long haul with oil on its way to $150