FedEx stock plummets after earnings miss, lower outlook flashes warning on economy

FedEx stock (FDX) tanked nearly 15% Friday morning following a much-worse-than-anticipated quarterly earnings report the day before, highlighting investor concerns over emerging cracks in the US economy.

FedEx, which is often viewed as a bellwether for the economy, reported profits of $892 million, about 24% lower than analysts anticipated for its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31. The company also lowered its financial outlook for the fiscal year ahead, projecting earnings per share between $20 and $21 versus its prior range of $20 to $22.

The quarterly results came a day after the Federal Reserve made a historically large reduction to interest rates but said the US economy remained strong. FedEx's outlook runs in contrast to that read.

“The magnitude of the Fed rate cuts yesterday signals the weakness of the current environment,” FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam told analysts in a call Thursday afternoon.

Investors seemed to sway toward Subramaniam’s reading of the rate cuts Friday morning, or, at the very least, their initial euphoria faded. After reaching record highs the day before, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank 0.43%. The Dow (^DJI) fell 0.38%, and the Nasdaq (^IXIC) dropped 0.44%.

FedEx executives attributed the company's poor performance to inflation-squeezed customers shifting away from paying higher fees for its priority shipping. Subramaniam also blamed a “weaker industrial economy” for waning demand for its B2B services, or shipments between businesses and manufacturers. And FedEx is ending its contract with the US Postal Service. Subramaniam said the company expects to take a $500 million hit from the partnership’s termination.

Subramaniam said the company will continue aggressive cost-cutting efforts, which are expected to save the company $4 billion in the next fiscal year.

Stephens analyst Daniel Imbro offered some hope for FedEx’s future in an interview with Yahoo Finance Friday morning. “We have been recommending buying it here in the $250s, as we think the next 12 months offers a pretty attractive risk-reward from these levels,” Imbro said.

But Oppenheimer analysts said they’re taking a wait-and-see approach to FedEx’s cost reduction efforts.

“With the company integrating its Express and Ground segments into one via its Network 2.0 initiative, we await demonstrated sustained progression toward total company past peak margin levels in a still challenging operating environment," they wrote in a note to investors Friday morning.

Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the last name of FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam. We regret the error.

Laura Bratton is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.

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