An employee opens a FedEx truck in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg)
key takeaways:
- FedEx reported adjusted fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $6.31 per share on June 23, beating analysts’ estimates of $5.97.
- Shares fell 5.4% as margins were lower than expected and FedEx cited trade policy changes, rising costs and lower demand.
- FedEx forecasts adjusted earnings of $16.90 to $18.10 in calendar 2026, while newly independent FedEx Freight reports June 25.
FedEx Corp. Ltd. reported profit that beat Wall Street expectations as the courier battled volatile trade policies and rising costs that hurt its package-delivery business.
Adjusted earnings for the fiscal fourth quarter were $6.31 per share, the company said in a statement June 23. Analysts had expected an average of $5.97 per share, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Nevertheless, FedEx cited “the financial impacts of global trade policy changes” as a hindrance to its operations. Its profit margin last quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations to 8.4%.
FedEx shares fell 5.4% as of 4:23 p.m. in New York, showing that the results fell short of investor expectations after the company significantly beat Wall Street estimates in recent quarters.
The momentum FedEx has built so far this year may be in danger of slowing as shipping demand remains sluggish. The company, which closed its freight unit earlier this month, has faced turmoil from the war in Iran as well as changes in trade flows caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
FedEx is viewed as an economic barometer as its parcel business delivers packages to a wide range of industries and consumers around the world. Investors have also looked to the company for signs of how global trade patterns have changed due to Trump’s escalating tariff policy and the war in Iran.
The courier is working to increase profit margins by giving priority to parcels in the health care and aerospace industries, which have attractive returns. FedEx is also targeting other categories, such as bulky parcels, luxury goods and cross-border shipping.
The company said adjusted earnings will be $16.90 to $18.10 per share in calendar year 2026, up from $15 forecast in 2025. The updated outlook does not include results from FedEx’s freight business. It was not immediately clear whether that separation was included in Wall Street’s profit estimates for this year. The outlook reflects a change by FedEx to reporting earnings consistent with the calendar year instead of its prior fiscal year, which ended May 31.
FedEx Freight Holding Co. began trading independently from the parcel company on June 1, entering the market as one of North America’s largest cargo firms at a dynamic time in the trucking industry, which is seeing a fragile recovery from a long-running freight downturn. The stock has been volatile in early trading due to investors’ lingering questions over the company’s outlook. FedEx Freight is scheduled to report its first-quarter earnings on June 25.
FedEx Q4 FY26 Earnings Release Final
Connected: What Amazon Supply Chain Services means for logistics
FedEx and its competitors including Amazon.com Inc. is facing increasing competition from the planned expansion of its logistics business. FedEx shares fell the most in more than a year in early May after Amazon announced those plans, which Morgan Stanley analyst Ravi Shankar said could be a “watershed moment” for the sector.
FedEx is ranked No. 2 on Transportation Topics’ Top 100 Largest For-Lease Carriers list in North America and No. 3 on the TT Top 50 list of the largest global freight companies. FedEx Logistics is ranked 40th on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
