ZTO EXPRESS-ZTO Express Q3 Earnings & Revenues Improve Y/Y, 2024 View Lowered

Company Performance - ZTO Express reported third-quarter 2024 earnings of 41 cents per share, showing improvement year over year [1] - Total revenues reached $1.52 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase [3] - Gross profit improved by 23.2% compared to the same quarter last year, with gross margin rising to 31.2% from 29.8% [5] Operational Statistics - Revenues from the core express delivery business increased by 18.1% year over year, driven by a 15.9% growth in parcel volume and a 1.8% rise in unit price [4] - KA revenues surged by 122.1%, attributed to a higher proportion of valuable parcels, including returns from e-commerce platforms [4] - Revenues from freight forwarding services grew by 0.8%, while accessory sales, primarily thermal paper for digital waybills, climbed by 27.6% year over year [5] Expenses and Cash Position - Total operating expenses amounted to RMB493.0 million (approximately$ 70.3 million), up from RMB282.8 million in the previous year [6] - ZTO Express ended the third quarter of 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of RMB11.70 billion, an increase from RMB10.54 billion at the end of the prior quarter [6] Guidance - ZTO Express updated its 2024 parcel volume guidance to a range of 33.7 billion to 33.9 billion, representing an increase of 11.6% to 12.3% year over year [7] - The previous guidance anticipated parcel volumes between 34.73 billion and 35.64 billion, indicating a projected increase of 15% to 18% year over year [7] Market Position - ZTO Express currently holds a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) [8]