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Jacobs Builds Up QXO With Beacon Buy; Hapag-Lloyd, FedEx Dim Views By Mark R. Long

Brad Jacobs has big plans for QXO, the building-products distributor he founded that finally-after months of trying-clinched an $11 billion deal to acquire Beacon Roofing Supply.

While the acquisition is only the latest for the serial dealmaker behind logistics businesses like less-than-truckload carrier XPO and freight broker RXO, it marks the first big deal for QXO. The Journal's Lauren Thomas writes that Jacobs is aiming to expand the business to more than $50 billion in annual sales, with Beacon bringing it about 20% of the way there .

Beacon is the biggest publicly traded distributor of roofing materials and complementary building products in the U.S. and Canada. Jacobs says building-products distribution is an $800 billion business that is highly fragmented, ripe for dealmaking and poised to profit from a housing shortage in the U.S., infrastructure spending and other secular trends. Beacon's products are primarily made and sold in the U.S., minimizing the effects from new tariffs, he adds.

Jacobs, who has built businesses from waste disposal to warehousing, started QXO in 2023 , the year after he stepped aside as chief executive of XPO , which he built into a sprawling, multibillion-dollar international supply chain heavyweight.

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Quotable Ocean Carriers

German container line Hapag-Lloyd said a fragile economic and geopolitical climate would cut its earnings for the year, with protracted tensions in the Middle East and escalating trade disputes clouding the outlook for ocean shipping.

The fifth-largest container carrier by capacity said it expects a key earnings measure to drop to between 2.4 billion and 3.9 billion euros ($2.62 billion-$4.25 billion) this year, from 4.65 billion euros in 2024. The WSJ's Dominic Chopping writes that the carrier based its forecast on an assumption that shipping through the Red Sea would gradually resume in the second half of the year .

The resumption of the war in Gaza , U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen and new U.S. tariffs are breeding uncertainty, leaving the company to focus on cutting costs and boosting its competitive position. However, it said increased vessel capacity and its new Gemini Cooperation-an alliance with A.P. Moeller-Maersk-should boost transport volumes.

CK Hutchison flagged supply chain disruptions and geopolitical risks ahead, but didn't address Chinese scrutiny of its Panama ports deal. (WSJ) WSJ Video: Iraq is building a $17 billion trade corridor to bypass the Suez Canal. Number of the Day Package Shipping

Fedex cut its outlook for the fiscal year on soft demand for business-to-business shipments amid continued weakness and uncertainty in the U.S. industrial economy.

The Journal's Connor Hart reports that inflationary pressures and uncertain global trade policies also have weighed on customer demand . The package-shipping company now expects revenue to be slightly down from last year, compared with a prior forecast for sales to be about flat. It also lowered its adjusted per-share earnings outlook. FedEx posted higher profit and sales in its fiscal third quarter, which included part of the holiday shipping season.

FedEx is in the process of spinning off its freight trucking division , which was hurt by fewer shipments and lower weights in the quarter. Executive Insights

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Meet the real-life companies called Lumon (no severance procedure required).

In Other News

The European Union may delay retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. until mid-April. (WSJ)

Taiwan's central bank once again held interest rates unchanged . (WSJ)

Australia's economy shed jobs in February . (WSJ)

France will add an extra $1.85 billion to defense spending via public-investment vehicles. (WSJ)

Tesla recalled more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over the potential for an exterior panel to fall off. (WSJ)

The owner of online marketplace Temu, China's PDD Holdings, posted slower quarterly profit and revenue growth. (WSJ)

The Trump administration is considering a plan to extend Chevron's license to pump oil in Venezuela. (WSJ)

Exports of Swiss watches fell sharply in February from a year earlier. (WSJ)

Empty containers are piling up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach after a surge of imports in January. (Journal of Commerce)

CMA CGM placed a bid for Air Belgium's cargo operations. (Air Cargo News)

Contract electronics maker Foxconn is finalizing a deal to collaborate with Mitsubishi Motors on electric vehicles. (Nikkei Asia)

Nissan Motor reached a $661 million battery-supply deal with South Korea's SK On to bolster the automaker's U.S. EV production. (Supply Chain Dive)

About Us

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at . Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long , Liz Young and Paul Berger .

This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2025 07:03 ET (11:03 GMT)

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