Al Root

Shares of logistics provider J.B. Hunt Transport Services fell after the company announced better-than-expected quarterly numbers.

The stock looks like it had gotten ahead of itself.

Thursday evening, J.B. Hunt reported fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.90 from sales of $3.1 billion. Wall Street was looking for $1.81 and $3.1 billion, respectively. A year ago, J.B. Hunt reported EPS of $1.53 from sales of $3.2 billion.

Shares were down 4.8% at $196.69 in after hours trading. The stock rose 0.3% in regular trading, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3% and 0.6% respectively.

Sales fell 2% on declines in pricing and volumes in different portions of the business. That isn't a surprise. Shipping markets have been weak for years after pandemic-induced highs. J.B. Hunt reported almost $15 billion in sales in 2022. It reported about $12 billion in 2025 sales.

Things are expected to improve, though. Wall Street expects $12.5 billion in 2026 sales, according to FactSet. Some of that improvement was reflected in Hunt stock. Coming into earnings, shares had gained almost 50% over the past three months.

Gains left the stock trading at about 29 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, up from about 20 times earnings before the 50% run began, and up from a historical average of about 24 times earnings.

"After nearly four years of a Freight Recession, we are at a crossroads, " wrote BofA Securities analyst Ken Hoexter in an earnings preview report. Volumes remain low, but supply has come out of the market, raising shipping rates.

Investors will want to see sustained price improvement early in 2026 to keep trucking stock momentum high.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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January 15, 2026 17:20 ET (22:20 GMT)

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