Short-to-medium haul truckload carrier Heartland Express, Inc. (HTLD), Wednesday said its net income for the fourth quarter declined as a result of decline in operating revenues, impacted by lower freight demand due to overall economic conditions and the related pressure on freight rates.
Heartland Express' net income for the fourth quarter plunged 44.8% to $10.7 million from $19.4 million in the year ago period. Earnings per share decreased 40.0% to $0.12 from $0.20 in the fourth quarter of 2008.
On average, 17 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn $0.15 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Operating revenues for the quarter decreased 19.6% to $114.2 million from $142.0 million in year-ago quarter. Eleven Wall Street analysts estimated a revenue of $119.76 million for the quarter.
Operating revenues for the fourth quarter continued to be impacted by lower freight demand due to overall economic conditions and the related pressure on freight rates. Operating revenues were also impacted due to an $8.7 million reduction in fuel surcharge revenues.
Operating expenses for the quarter declined to $98.39 million from $113.36 million a year-ago.
According to Heartland Express, freight demand in the fourth quarter continued to be soft. "Based on the current economic environment, we believe freight volumes have stabilized but are unable at this time to project when we would expect freight volumes to improve."
The company ended the fourth quarter with cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments of $200.4 million, a $27.6 million decrease from the $228.0 million reported on December 31, 2008. The decline is primarily attributed to the use of $45.4 million in early 2009 for repurchases of stock and $79.1 million for capital expenditures, primarily new tractors.
Heartland Express said that it continues to pay a regular quarterly cash dividend. The most recent dividend of approximately $1.8 million at the rate of $0.02 per share was paid on December 22, 2009 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 11. The company has now paid cash dividends of $239.5 million over the past twenty-six consecutive quarters.
Net income decreased 18.6% to $56.9 million for the period ended December 31, 2009 from $70.0 million in the 2008 period. Earnings per share for the fiscal year were $0.62, compared with $0.73 in the year-ago period.
For the year ended December 31, 2009, operating revenues decreased 26.5% to $459.5 from $625.6 million during the same period in 2008.
The Street estimated earnings of $0.66 per share on a revenue of $464.09 million.
HTLD is currently trading at $14.74, down $0.30 or 1.99%, on a volume of 552 thousand shares on the Nasdaq.
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