C. H. Robinson Worldwide (NASDAQ: CHRW) reported Q4 EPS of $1.08, $0.11 better than the analyst estimate of $0.97. Revenue for the quarter came in at $4.5 billion versus the consensus estimate of $4.17 billion.

Fourth Quarter Results Summary

• Total revenues increased 19.9 percent to $4.5 billion, driven primarily by higher pricing and higher volume across most of our service lines.
• Gross profits increased 10.5 percent to $636.1 million. Adjusted gross profits increased 10.7 percent to $640.6 million, primarily driven by higher pricing and higher volume in our Global Forwarding business segment and contributions from the acquisition of Prime Distribution Services ("Prime").
• Operating expenses decreased 1.9 percent to $433.8 million, primarily due to cost savings initiatives. Personnel expenses increased 3.4 percent to $309.3 million, compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, which included a reduction in incentive compensation. Average headcount decreased 4.8 percent, despite headcount additions from Prime that added approximately 2.0 percentage points. Selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses of $124.5 million decreased 13.0 percent, primarily due to cost savings initiatives including lower travel expenses.
• Income from operations totaled $206.8 million, up 51.2 percent due to the increase in adjusted gross profits. Adjusted operating margin of 32.3 percent increased 870 basis points.
• Interest and other expenses totaled $12.0 million, consisting primarily of $12.3 million of interest expense, which decreased $0.1 million versus last year due to a lower average debt balance. The fourth quarter also included a $1.1 million favorable impact from foreign currency revaluation and realized foreign currency gains and losses.
• The effective tax rate in the quarter was 24.1 percent compared to 21.4 percent in the fourth quarter last year. The increase was primarily due to one-time items related to the tax provision in Mexico, which were favorable in the fourth quarter of 2019 and unfavorable in the fourth quarter of 2020.
• Net income totaled $147.8 million, up 49.1 percent from a year ago. Diluted EPS of $1.08 increased 47.9 percent.

“Our fourth quarter was marked by solid performance across our broad service portfolio, continued progress on repricing our truckload business to reflect the changing market conditions, and further advancements in our technology and transformation efforts that are providing meaningful improvements,” said Bob Biesterfeld, Chief Executive Officer of C.H. Robinson. "Our enterprise portfolio that allows us to offer end-to-end solutions for our customers is unique to the logistics industry, and shippers continue to rely on Robinson's global supply chain expertise and our data and scale advantages to ensure critical goods are moved as quickly and as inexpensively as possible."

Outlook

“Due to several factors, including shortages in the number of drivers and available carrier capacity, freight markets remain tight, and we anticipate this will continue for much of 2021. We're committed to creating better outcomes for our customers and carriers, by delivering industry leading technology that is built by and for supply chain experts and by leveraging our broad service portfolio and our unmatched combination of experience, scale and information advantage to meet their ever-changing needs,” Biesterfeld stated. "We're also firmly committed to the focus areas of our investors, including profitable market share growth, investing in technology to unlock growth and efficiency, being a responsible corporate citizen, and driving the transformation of C.H. Robinson, so that we can deliver industry-leading margins and enhance shareholder value."

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