Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) dipped over 1% in early U.S. trading on Wednesday after the transportation and logistics company reported second-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street expectations, despite ongoing pressures from volume and pricing challenges.
J.B. Hunt posted earnings of $1.31 per share on revenues of $2.93 billion, slightly surpassing analyst forecasts of $1.30 per share on $2.92 billion in revenue.
The company’s operating income declined 4% year-over-year, impacted by rising operating costs. Within the intermodal segment—which makes up nearly half of total revenue—revenues increased 2% compared to the previous year, buoyed by a 6% volume increase. However, revenue per load was pressured by shifts in freight mix and pricing.
This intermodal unit has played a vital role in J.B. Hunt’s recent operations, partially offsetting declines in revenue from its dedicated contract services division, as well as higher equipment and maintenance expenses.
To address cost pressures, company executives announced plans to reduce expenses by $100 million. Analysts at Barclays noted this move could help improve results somewhat in the latter half of the year and “more so” in 2026.
“Nonetheless, investors seemed a bit confused on management’s announcement of a cost plan with plenty of questions surrounding timing and impact on margins. We suspect based on management commentary that the $100 million target comprises incremental efficiency opportunities in the business which will likely require some future growth to fully achieve and with some partial net offsets likely from inflation,” Barclays analysts said.
Data from the Intermodal Association of North America, cited by UBS, showed intermodal container volume—goods shipped via two or more transportation modes—increased by 6.2% in April year-over-year and 1.7% in May.
UBS estimates that June’s volume, based on weekly carload data, grew by 3.4% compared to the previous year. The firm commented that this points to “fairly stable” monthly volumes around 715,000 units through the second quarter, contrary to earlier expectations of a sharp decline in May and June.
“Volumes appear to have softened from mid-May to mid-June but this was buffered by stronger volume in early May and late June,” UBS analysts noted.
They cautioned that visibility into container shipping volumes beyond July for the rest of 2025 is “murkier,” forecasting modest low-single-digit quarter-over-quarter intermodal volume growth in Q3 followed by an approximate 3% sequential drop in Q4.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock price
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