Expeditors Reports First Quarter 2025 EPS of $1.47

Business Wire

06-05-2025

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NYSE:EXPD) today announced first quarter 2025 financial results including the following comparisons to the same quarter of 2024:
"We continue to pull the right levers to grow all of our businesses with current customers as well as new ones," said Daniel R. Wall, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We grew air tonnage and ocean volumes year-over-year as all of our teams across our global network performed their best in a very difficult market. I especially want to thank our brokerage teams for maximizing their efforts and all of their additional work to address the frenzied landscape of tariffs, threats of tariffs, shifting geopolitics, and other disruptions that have had shippers around the world rapidly re-evaluating the risks to their supply chains. While we often have performed well when the marketplace is most unpredictable, I am not sure any of us have ever seen anything like the non-stop, rapidly shifting rules and regulations that have impacted our industry in recent days. We believe we are staffed with the right talent in the right locations to help our customers function and navigate this chaotic trade environment. Customers often turn to us for our cross-border expertise and we have held hundreds of near-daily industry update sessions with thousands of participants to keep current and potential customers abreast of the latest regulatory changes and solutions to get their freight where it needs to be.
'Compared to a year ago, airfreight increased on higher buy and sell rates and growth in tonnage from strong demand, primarily in technology, as importers front-loaded shipments in anticipation of higher trade tariffs. Air capacity remained tight due to e‑commerce export demand from North Asia and ongoing re-sourcing to South Asia and India. Our ocean business favorably compares to the first quarter a year ago and grew in strength on higher volumes and rates as importers also front-loaded shipments, as well as extended transit times because of the continuing conflict in the Red Sea. Our customs and other businesses increased on growth in customs clearances and additional ancillary services from increased shipments, as well as increased road freight volumes, and growth in new business in warehousing and distribution, principally in North America.
'Looking back on Q1, we performed well across all of our businesses. However, the short- and longer-term future is as unpredictable to us as it is to everyone. While we currently expect air capacity and rates to remain volatile, it is too early to predict what impact an end to the de minimis exemption may have on air capacity and rates going forward, as there are other economic and geopolitical unknowns to consider. Subsequent to March 31, 2025, we are seeing early signs that China to U.S. ocean volumes are declining significantly. While some of those volumes are shifting to other lanes, as customers look to mitigate their exposure to China-specific tariffs, it is too early to know what the overall decline in volumes might be. Speculation regarding additional tariffs may cause more customers to pause or cancel shipments entirely. While carriers have shown a willingness to manage capacity, the current environment is so unsettled that they simply may not be able to do enough to keep rates from continuing to fall if consumer resilience fades and the capacity/demand imbalance becomes significant in certain lanes.
"We believe that uncertainty is likely to continue for some time, with possibly significant impacts to our industry. We also remain optimistic that trade will continue to flow, and we will work closely with our customers to find solutions to keep their cargo moving. We believe that wherever trade moves, we already have talented people and operational infrastructure on-site to handle that business.'
Bradley S. Powell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, 'During the quarter, we carefully boosted headcount in certain areas to support growth in business activity, primarily in operations and sales, as well as our critical information systems. But we were again careful not to increase headcount ahead of our ability to grow tonnage and volumes and increase profitability, growing pre-tax operating income by 24% from a year ago. Our measure of operating efficiency (operating income as a percentage of revenue less directly related cost of transportation and other expenses) was in line with our 30% target.'
Mr. Powell noted that the Company generated $343 million in cash from operations and returned $177 million to shareholders through stock repurchases, while continuing to make significant investments in cybersecurity and other technology to protect, upgrade, and strengthen current systems, while also investing to deploy new and enhanced technology solutions.
Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The Company employs trained professionals in 172 district offices and numerous branch locations located on six continents linked into a seamless worldwide network through an integrated information management system. Services include the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time-definite transportation, order management, warehousing and distribution and customized logistics solutions.
Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements:
Certain statements contained in this news release are 'forward-looking statements,' based on management's views with respect to future events and underlying assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding inflation; continued growth in air and ocean carrier capacity and the impact on rates; unpredictability in the ocean and air markets, including uncertainty due to conflicts in the Middle East and Red Sea; national policy changes on tariffs and other similar measures; port actions and other labor disruptions; new capacity in the marketplace; longer ocean transit times; e-commerce demand in the air market; changing de minimis laws; and volatile rates. Future financial performance could differ materially because of factors such as: our ability to secure higher air tonnage and ocean volumes; our ability to carefully add headcount and keep other costs in check while continuing to generate efficiency that meets our historical expectations; the alignment of our variable compensation structure with performance; our ability to enhance and bolster our network security; that management is able to grow the business and explore new areas for profitable growth; our ability to take market share; our ability to offer cross-border customs expertise; our ability to offer solutions to address the ever shifting tariff changes; our ability to find solutions to keep cargo moving for our customers during highly uncertain market conditions; our ability to leverage the strength of our carrier relationships; the strength of our non-asset-based operating model; and our ability to remain a strong, healthy, unified and resilient organization. Geopolitical risks, port actions, other labor disruptions, tariffs, the removal of the de minimis exemption for goods manufactured in China and Hong Kong, and the current uncertainty in the global economy could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, without limitation, those related to the success of our strategy and desire to maintain historical unitary profitability, our ability to attract and retain customers, our ability to manage costs, interruptions to our information technology systems, the ability of third-party providers to perform, and potential litigation and contingencies, including risks associated with tax audits, as updated by our reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These and other factors are discussed in the Company's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in 'Item 1A. Risk Factors' of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, and the Company's most recent Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date and the Company does not assume any obligation to update them except as required by law.
During the three months ended March 31, 2025 we repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock at an average price of $117.29 per share. During the three months ended March 31, 2024 we repurchased 3.0 million shares of common stock at an average price of $120.17 per share.
First quarter year-over-year percentage increase in:
2025
Airfreight
kilos
Ocean freight
FEU
January
6%
10%
February
6%
8%
March
15%
5%
Quarter
9%
8%
Expand
Investors may submit written questions via e-mail to: [e-mail]. Questions received by the end of business on May 9, 2025 will be considered in management's 8-K 'Responses to Selected Questions.'
-----------------------------------------
NOTE: See Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements in this release.
EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Revenues:
Airfreight services
$
901,760
$
759,374
Ocean freight and ocean services
781,665
570,786
Customs brokerage and other services
982,994
876,518
Total revenues
2,666,419
2,206,678
Operating Expenses:
Airfreight services
648,494
537,591
Ocean freight and ocean services
573,901
413,983
Customs brokerage and other services
554,280
481,706
Salaries and related
457,937
413,162
Rent and occupancy
64,343
61,252
Depreciation and amortization
14,604
15,161
Selling and promotion
8,574
6,779
Other
78,428
62,268
Total operating expenses
2,400,561
1,991,902
Operating income
265,858
214,776
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income
9,184
14,878
Other, net
839
3,528
Other income, net
10,023
18,406
Earnings before income taxes
275,881
233,182
Income tax expense
71,782
62,782
Net earnings
204,099
170,400
Less net earnings (losses) attributable to the noncontrolling
interest
304
1,248
Net earnings attributable to shareholders
$
203,795
$
169,152
Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share
$
1.47
$
1.17
Basic earnings attributable to shareholders per share
$
1.48
$
1.18
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding
138,435
144,125
Weighted average basic shares outstanding
137,833
143,194
Expand
EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
2025
2024
Operating Activities:
Net earnings
$
204,099
$
170,400
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash from operating activities:
Provisions for losses on accounts receivable
761
394
Deferred income tax benefit
76
2,294
Stock compensation expense
11,549
12,372
Depreciation and amortization
14,604
15,161
Other, net
2,291
1,985
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Decrease (increase) in accounts receivable
108,149
(60,542)
(Decrease) increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities
(18,419)
83,591
Decrease (increase) in deferred contract costs
75,973
(64,062)
(Decrease) increase in contract liabilities
(89,288)
69,308
Increase in income taxes payable, net
30,340
22,686
Decrease in other, net
2,487
3,317
Net cash from operating activities
342,622
256,904
Investing Activities:
Purchase of property and equipment
(13,152)
(10,181)
Other, net
156
97
Net cash from investing activities
(12,996)
(10,084)
Financing Activities:
Proceeds on borrowings on lines of credit, net
195
(17,242)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock
13,043
8,029
Repurchases of common stock
(177,354)
(360,524)
Payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards
(509)
(5,185)
Distribution to noncontrolling interest
(1,346)
—
Net cash from financing activities
(165,971)
(374,922)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
6,545
(14,325)
Change in cash and cash equivalents
170,200
(142,427)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period
1,148,320
1,512,883
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period
$
1,318,520
$
1,370,456
Taxes Paid:
Income taxes
$
40,624
$
36,864
Expand
EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES
Business Segment Information
(In thousands)
(Unaudited
For the three months ended March 31, 2025:
Revenues
$
854,449
116,485
62,389
695,008
364,577
422,795
152,872
(2,156
)
2,666,419
Directly related cost of transportation
and other expenses 1
$
451,917
73,193
36,435
554,494
281,495
271,716
108,848
(1,423
)
1,776,675
Salaries and related costs
$
258,089
19,592
10,438
40,361
28,072
81,549
19,836
—
457,937
Other operating expenses 2
$
22,548
14,828
9,914
37,746
23,285
43,359
15,028
(759
)
165,949
Operating income
$
121,895
8,872
5,602
62,407
31,725
26,171
9,160
26
265,858
Identifiable assets at period end
$
2,588,265
177,996
107,290
503,899
348,424
772,342
277,677
(19,243
)
4,756,650
Capital expenditures
$
8,407
226
225
505
874
1,156
1,759
—
13,152
Depreciation and amortization
$
8,938
497
251
1,056
570
2,646
646
—
14,604
Equity
$
1,481,145
50,613
46,120
273,084
145,611
169,589
164,036
(42,695
)
2,287,503
For the three months ended March 31, 2024:
Revenues
$
751,543
106,850
44,492
544,941
227,719
398,317
134,106
(1,290
)
2,206,678
Directly related cost of transportation
and other expenses 1
$
403,949
66,710
24,464
426,474
164,024
254,519
93,792
(652
)
1,433,280
Salaries and related costs
$
233,313
18,906
8,847
34,942
22,917
77,572
16,665
—
413,162
Other operating expenses 2
$
22,395
14,178
7,917
32,318
17,995
39,516
11,799
(658
)
145,460
Operating income
$
91,886
7,056
3,264
51,207
22,783
26,710
11,850
20
214,776
Identifiable assets at period end
$
2,424,540
177,571
105,151
504,704
265,621
755,569
284,325
(29,213
)
4,488,268
Capital expenditures
$
5,528
1,399
153
282
144
2,218
457
—
10,181
Depreciation and amortization
$
9,020
497
289
1,093
548
2,970
744
—
15,161
Equity
$
1,531,497
26,143
55,173
185,824
118,194
162,346
160,237
(41,749
)
2,197,665
1 Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses totals Operating Expenses from Airfreight services, Ocean freight and ocean services and Customs brokerage and other services as shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings.
2 Other operating expenses totals rent and occupancy, depreciation and amortization, selling and promotion and other as shown in the consolidated statements of earnings.
Expand