Earnings Preview: ArcBest (ARCB) Q1 Earnings Expected to Decline

Core Viewpoint - The market anticipates a year-over-year decline in ArcBest's earnings due to lower revenues, with a focus on how actual results compare to estimates impacting stock price [1][2]. Earnings Expectations - ArcBest is expected to report quarterly earnings of $0.52 per share, reflecting a year-over-year decrease of 61.2% [3]. - Revenues are projected to be $981.56 million, down 5.3% from the same quarter last year [3]. Estimate Revisions - The consensus EPS estimate has been revised down by 11.88% over the last 30 days, indicating a bearish sentiment among analysts [4]. - The Most Accurate Estimate for ArcBest is lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate, resulting in an Earnings ESP of -6.03% [10][11]. Earnings Surprise Prediction - The Zacks Earnings ESP model suggests that a positive or negative reading indicates the likely deviation of actual earnings from the consensus estimate, with a strong predictor for positive readings [7][8]. - ArcBest's current Zacks Rank is 4, making it challenging to predict an earnings beat [11]. Historical Performance - In the last reported quarter, ArcBest exceeded earnings expectations with a surprise of +26.67%, having reported earnings of $1.33 per share against an expectation of $1.05 [12]. - Over the past four quarters, ArcBest has only beaten consensus EPS estimates once [13]. Industry Comparison - Another player in the transportation industry, Saia, is expected to report earnings of $2.77 per share, indicating a year-over-year change of -18.1%, with revenues expected to rise by 7.3% [17]. - Saia's consensus EPS estimate has been revised down by 7.6% in the last 30 days, and it has an Earnings ESP of -0.01% [18].