What: Shares of transportation services specialist YRC Worldwide Inc (YELL -6.53%) were off a staggering 31% at 1:00 p.m. EST on Friday after its quarterly results disappointed Wall Street.
So what: YRC shares have been walloped over the past six months on signs of declining fuel surcharges, and poor Q4 results -- adjusted EPS of $0.18 missed the consensus by $0.02 on an operating revenue decline of 6.2% -- only reinforce that negative trend. In fact, revenue in YRC's freight division -- which generates more than 50% of its business -- declined 7.8%, while total shipments per day fell 6.9%, giving analysts plenty of negative vibes over the company's product mix going forward.
Now what: Management remains confident that operating efficiency will continue to improve even amid the slowing economy. "We would obviously like for the freight environment to be better and improve throughout 2016," said CEO James Welch. "We will stay the course and remain focused on providing our customers excellent service, improving our freight mix and profitability, which we believe ultimately drives long-term shareholder value." When you couple the strong headwinds facing YRC with its still-worrisome financial position, however, I wouldn't be so quick to bet on that optimism.
