UPS

United Parcel Service’ announcement regarding the exploration of alternatives for its freight business Coyote Logistics comes about three months after digital startup Convoy, backed by investors including Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, wound down its operations. “Coyote represents a relatively small piece of UPS’ business and has seen a lot of volatility amid revenue pressure, but we didn’t expect this,” Citi analyst Christian Wetherbee tells WSJ. “The U.S. freight economy has had two particularly bad years, as freight saw a recession over the past 12 to 18 months, but we’re getting past that,” Wetherbee says. UPS shares fall 7.1% to $146.80.

UPS Releases 4Q 2023 Earnings — Consolidated Revenues of $24.9B, Compared to $27.0B Last Year — Consolidated Operating Margin of 9.9%; Adjusted* Consolidated Operating Margin of 11.2% — Diluted EPS of $1.87; Adj. Diluted EPS of $2.47, Compared to $3.62 Last Year — Declares a Quarterly Dividend of $1.63, a $0.01 Increase Per Share ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–January 30, 2024– UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced fourth-quarter 2023 consolidated revenues of $24.9 billion, a 7.8% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2022. Consolidated operating profit was $2.5 billion, down 22.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, and down 27.1% on an adjusted basis. Diluted earnings per share were $1.87 for the quarter; adjusted diluted earnings per share of $2.47 were 31.8% below the same period in 2022. For the fourth quarter of 2023, GAAP results include a total charge of $512 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, comprised of a non-cash, after-tax mark-to-market

UPS Reports Q4 EPS $2.47, vs. Street Est of $2.46.

-8.39% For the full year 2024, UPS expects revenue to range from approximately $92.0 billion to $94.5 billion and consolidated adjusted operating margin to range from approximately 10.0% to 10.6%. The company is planning capital expenditures of about $4.5 billion and dividend payments of around $5.4 billion, subject to board approval. The effective tax rate is expected to be around 23.5%.

By Esther Fung United Parcel Service said Tuesday that it plans to cut about 12,000 jobs this year, a move that the package-delivery giant said would result in $1 billion in savings. Most of the cuts will be to full-time and part-time management positions and contract workers, and executives said they don’t expect these jobs to return when parcel volumes return. UPS has around 85,000 workers in management. Chief Executive Carol Tomé said that the company is using artificial intelligence and other new technologies to boost its operations. The job cuts were unveiled after the company said its revenue declined in the last quarter of 2023 as volumes in both its domestic and international businesses dropped. Write to Esther Fung at esther.fung@wsj.com

United Parcel Service’s fourth-quarter earnings, due Tuesday morning, will tell investors a lot about how the economy looks heading into a new year. For the quarter, Wall Street is looking for UPS to report an operating profit of $2.8 billion and earnings per share of $2.44 from sales of $25.4 billion, according to Bloomberg. A year ago, UPS reported an operating profit of $3.2 billion and EPS of $3.62 from sales of $27 billion. Weaker volumes from a slowing economy are partly responsible. Labor negotiations also are to blame — some businesses left the UPS network to avoid being caught in a potential work stoppage. While UPS managed to avoid a strike with the Teamsters union, the new labor deal created another issue. Workers received big wage increases to help offset high inflation in recent years. It is hard for UPS to raise prices all at once to offset labor

UPS (UPS) faced “continuing softness” on domestic-packages volumes Q4, partly countering the company’s expectations for a partial recovery, UBS said Wednesday in a report. UBS cited FedEx (FDX) results in the November quarter and “other mixed indicators regarding transport activity during peak.” UPS’ domestic-package volumes in Q4 probably fell 7% from a year earlier, compared with an 11.5% drop in Q3, and the decline in volume will put pressure on the company’s margin performance, UBS said. UBS lowered the company’s Q4 earnings per share estimate to $2.40 from $2.59 on expectations for single-digit revenue growth and soft volumes. The company is also facing “a significant headwind” from the Teamster contract, UBS said. UBS cut its 2024 EPS estimate to $8.90 from $9.52. UBS raised its price target on the company to $165 from $151, while maintaining the neutral rating. UPS shares fell 1.1% in recent Wednesday trading.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/16/2024 17.27% Raymond James $170 → $185 Maintains Strong Buy 01/10/2024 20.44% Stifel $180 → $190 Maintains Buy 12/26/2023 -1.74% Daiwa Capital → $155 Downgrades Outperform → Neutral 12/21/2023 -1.11% JP Morgan $165 → $156 Maintains Neutral 10/11/2023 12.84% JP Morgan $186 → $178 Maintains Neutral 10/02/2023 1.43% Susquehanna $173 → $160 Maintains Neutral 09/29/2023 26.78% Raymond James $205 → $200 Maintains Strong Buy 09/29/2023 7.77% HSBC → $170 Initiates Coverage On → Hold 09/28/2023 10.94% Barclays $180 → $175 Maintains Equal-Weight 09/18/2023 16.64% Oppenheimer $195 → $184 Maintains Outperform 09/14/2023 17.27% TD Cowen $190 → $185 Maintains Market Perform 09/12/2023 12.2% B of A Securities $190 → $177 Maintains Neutral 09/12/2023 13.47% Evercore ISI Group $185 → $179 Maintains In-Line 09/12/2023 14.1% Citigroup $200 → $180 Maintains Buy 09/12/2023

Raymond James analyst Patrick Tyler Brown maintains United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) with a Strong Buy and raises the price target from $170 to $185.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 01/10/2024 18.9% Stifel $180 → $190 Maintains Buy 12/26/2023 -3% Daiwa Capital → $155 Downgrades Outperform → Neutral 12/21/2023 -2.38% JP Morgan $165 → $156 Maintains Neutral 10/11/2023 11.39% JP Morgan $186 → $178 Maintains Neutral 10/02/2023 0.13% Susquehanna $173 → $160 Maintains Neutral 09/29/2023 25.16% Raymond James $205 → $200 Maintains Strong Buy 09/29/2023 6.38% HSBC → $170 Initiates Coverage On → Hold 09/28/2023 9.51% Barclays $180 → $175 Maintains Equal-Weight 09/18/2023 15.14% Oppenheimer $195 → $184 Maintains Outperform 09/14/2023 15.77% TD Cowen $190 → $185 Maintains Market Perform 09/12/2023 10.76% B of A Securities $190 → $177 Maintains Neutral 09/12/2023 12.02% Evercore ISI Group $185 → $179 Maintains In-Line 09/12/2023 12.64% Citigroup $200 → $180 Maintains Buy 09/12/2023 22.03% Stephens & Co. → $195 Reiterates Equal-Weight → Equal-Weight

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Stock Analyst Ratings Date Upside/Downside Analyst Firm Price Target Change Rating Change Previous / Current Rating 12/26/2023 -2.05% Daiwa Capital → $155 Downgrades Outperform → Neutral 12/21/2023 -1.42% JP Morgan $165 → $156 Maintains Neutral 10/11/2023 12.48% JP Morgan $186 → $178 Maintains Neutral 10/02/2023 1.11% Susquehanna $173 → $160 Maintains Neutral 09/29/2023 26.38% Raymond James $205 → $200 Maintains Strong Buy 09/29/2023 7.42% HSBC → $170 Initiates Coverage On → Hold 09/28/2023 10.58% Barclays $180 → $175 Maintains Equal-Weight 09/18/2023 16.27% Oppenheimer $195 → $184 Maintains Outperform 09/14/2023 16.9% TD Cowen $190 → $185 Maintains Market Perform 09/12/2023 11.85% B of A Securities $190 → $177 Maintains Neutral 09/12/2023 13.11% Evercore ISI Group $185 → $179 Maintains In-Line 09/12/2023 13.74% Citigroup $200 → $180 Maintains Buy 09/12/2023 23.22% Stephens & Co. → $195 Reiterates Equal-Weight → Equal-Weight 08/11/2023 25.75% Stifel → $199 Maintains Buy 08/09/2023

UPS Said Do Not Anticipate Further Share Repurchases In 2023.