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Investing.com - Benchmark maintained its Buy rating and $360.00 price target on Saia Inc. (NASDAQ:SAIA), currently trading at $308.89, following the company’s better-than-expected third-quarter operating data. According to InvestingPro data, the company maintains a "Good" financial health score, with a market capitalization of $8.29 billion.
The less-than-truckload carrier reported quarter-to-date tonnage decline of 0.7%, which outperformed Benchmark’s estimate of a 1.2% decrease. This performance also surpassed tonnage trends at competitors Old Dominion Freight Line and XPO. With trailing twelve-month revenue of $3.24 billion and a gross profit margin of 24.72%, Saia demonstrates solid operational efficiency. InvestingPro subscribers have access to 10 additional key insights about Saia’s performance and outlook.
Saia’s volume growth has exceeded other carriers throughout 2024, primarily driven by terminal expansions completed over recent years as part of the company’s network investment strategy, despite the challenging overall freight environment.
On its second-quarter earnings call, Saia guided for an operating ratio deterioration of 100 basis points sequentially, which falls at the lower end of the normal 100-200 basis point seasonal degradation range. Benchmark believes this target remains achievable given the stronger-than-anticipated shipment trends.
The research firm noted that if Saia implements a wage increase in the third quarter—which was undetermined at the end of the second quarter—the operating ratio deterioration could potentially be greater than initially projected.
In other recent news, Saia reported mixed results for its less-than-truckload operations during the first two months of the third quarter. The company noted a 1.2% decline in LTL shipments per workday in July compared to the same month last year, while tonnage per workday increased by 0.9%. Additionally, the average weight per shipment rose by 2.1% to 1,359 pounds. Stephens raised its price target for Saia to $300 from $274, citing stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, with adjusted earnings per share reaching $2.67, surpassing both their estimate of $2.36 and the consensus estimate of $2.39. Benchmark also increased its price target to $360, driven by a significant improvement in Saia’s operating ratio. BMO Capital raised its price target to $340, anticipating a stronger-than-seasonal operating ratio performance in the third quarter of 2025. In related industry news, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a halt to the issuance of worker visas for commercial truck drivers, which could impact trucking stocks.
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