MW This trucking company is AI's latest casualty, as the stock heads for a record selloff
By Claudia Assis
C.H. Robinson's stock was dropping nearly 20% to lead the S&P 500's decliners, less than a week after closing at a record high
C.H. Robinson's stock is the latest AI victim, as it heads for its biggest one-day decline ever.
Shares of C.H. Robinson Worldwide on Thursday headed for their steepest drop ever, as investors seemed to focus their fears about AI disruption onto the transportation and logistics company.
C.H. Robinson's stock $(CHRW)$, which tumbled 19% in recent afternoon trading, was on track for its lowest close since Dec. 9 and veering toward its largest one-day percentage loss on record, based on available data going back to October 1997.
Others in the trucking space were suffering similarly. Shares of trucking broker RXO $(RXO)$, which was spun off from transportation company XPO $(XPO)$ in 2022, sank 22%, while Expeditors International of Washington shares $(EXPD)$ shed 14.1% and J.B. Hunt Transport Services $(JBHT)$ shares gave up 5.5%.
The Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT was slumping 4.6%, toward its biggest one-day selloff in nine months, while its sister index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, was down 1%.
It seemed that "AI disruption [is] taking the next victim," Jefferies analyst Stephanie Moore said.
Several industries, notably the software sector in recent sessions, have taken the brunt of investors' concerns about AI, with their stocks falling accordingly.
"Anything knowledge-based is susceptible, and so are the transport companies that are more about the planning and less about the actual moving stuff," said Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers.
C.H. Robinson shares had been on a roll until the AI fears surfaced. The stock had run up 21.3% in January, the best monthly performance since it climbed 21.7% in May 2024, even after company reported mixed fourth-quarter results in late January. The rally continued until the stock closed at a record $200.59 on Feb. 6.
The AI fears appear to have been stoked by a couple of claims by Algorhythm Holdings, a Florida-based holding company that builds AI platforms and until recently was better known for its karaoke machines.
On Thursday, Algorhythm Holdings said that its SemiCab platform, which the company says uses AI, is enabling its "customers' internal operations to scale freight volumes by 300% to 400%" without additional employees.
And on Monday, the company claimed that the platform had shown a 70% reduction in empty trucking miles, based on a white paper.
While the Monday news might seem old to be referenced for a Thursday stock selloff, Evercore ISI analyst Jonathan Chappell said that was "the best and only reason" he had heard of so far to explain the weakness.
Algorhythm Holdings in August completed the sale of its Singing Machine karaoke consumer-electronics business for $4.5 million.
Joseph Adinolfi contributed.
-Claudia Assis
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February 12, 2026 15:06 ET (20:06 GMT)
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