Citizens launches transportation coverage, names FedEx a top large-cap pick

Investing.com -- Citizens initiated coverage of the Transportation, Logistics & Services group with twenty-two names, naming FedEx among its top large-cap picks alongside FTAI Aviation, Union Pacific and C.H. Robinson, according to a note from analyst Jeff Kauffman.

Citizens said the group carries a mix of Market Outperform and Market Perform ratings, with no Market Underperform ratings at this time, citing "our projected acceleration of the group's earnings recovery and momentum that we look for through late 2027."

For mid- and small-cap names, the firm favors GXO, U-Haul parent UHAL, Knight-Swift, Wabash National and Covenant Logistics, along with a story-specific Market Outperform rating on FTAI Infrastructure.

The firm noted that stocks in its coverage group have generated 33.8% average returns year-to-date in 2026, compared with 20.0% for the Russell 2000 and 10.7% for the S&P 500.

Kauffman wrote that "history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme," describing the early phase of an economic recovery as one of the best windows of the cycle to own these names.

Citizens forecasts 2.3% real GDP growth in 2026, slowing to 2.1% in 2027, implying low-single-digit growth for rail freight and low-to-mid-single-digit growth for trucking.

The firm pointed to six positive PMI readings this year following 38 months of negative readings, calling the current freight cycle "one of the longest freight market declines," with the industry now emerging into a new upcycle supported by tight truck capacity and low inventories requiring restocking.

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