Saia, Inc. (SAIA) Tops Q4 EPS by 21c, Revenues Beat

Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIA) reported Q4 EPS of $1.51, $0.21 better than the analyst estimate of $1.30. Revenue for the quarter came in at $476.5 million versus the consensus estimate of $474.62 million.

Highlights from the fourth quarter and full year operating results were as follows:

Fourth Quarter 2020 Compared to Fourth Quarter 2019 Results

• Revenue was $476.5 million, a 7.5% increase
• Operating income was $50.6 million, a 84.6% increase
• Operating ratio of 89.4 compared to 93.8
• LTL shipments per workday increased 3.6%
• LTL tonnage per workday increased 6.0%
• LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 1.2%
• LTL revenue per shipment rose 3.5% to $246.88

Fourth quarter effective tax rate of 19.8% was lower than the third quarter and full year tax rate, related to executive and director stock compensation.

“After the most unique year in our history, I am very pleased at the record results achieved by our team,” stated Saia President and Chief Executive Officer, Frederick Holzgrefe. “Business trends in December out-performed normal historical trends and we posted 3.5% shipment growth for the month. Shipments and tonnage increased by 3.6% and 6.0%, respectively, for the quarter,” Holzgrefe added. “Our full year operating ratio of 90.1% was a record for our company and the fact that it was achieved in such turbulent times is a testament to the commitment, focus and efficiency displayed by our employees throughout the year,” said Holzgrefe.

“Moving into 2021, we continue to focus our efforts on expansion of our network and of course on continuing profitability initiatives,” said Holzgrefe. “We have one planned terminal opening for the first quarter and are reviewing several other opportunities. We continue to see inflationary cost pressures in our business, including our January wage increase and we will work on mix and pricing to cover the cost pressures and strive to improve margins in our business. We are still operating in challenging conditions and the “Covid” operating protocol developed last year, continues. Despite that, we plan to invest in our business and will support our employees as they work and allow our company to provide essential services to our customers,” concluded Holzgrefe.

Saia Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Douglas Col stated, “We have long felt that positive pricing action was the best path towards improved profitability and 2020 provides excellent evidence of that path. Total annual revenue grew 2% with total shipments per workday down almost 1%. The growth came from a 3.9% increase in yield excluding fuel surcharge, which fueled a 4.9% increase in revenue per bill excluding fuel surcharge, and this largely explained the 140 basis point improvement in our operating ratio versus the prior year,” added Col.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Saia, Inc. (SAIA) click here.

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