Shares of FedEx Corporation FDX declined 6.2% to $241.77 post the earnings release on Jun 19, despite reporting better-than-expected revenues and earnings per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.
Reasons Behind the Stock’s Plunge
The escalating fears of a trade war hampering the free flow of goods between countries are the main reasons behind the stock’s dismal performance. In fact, on the fourth quarter conference call, FedEx’s CEO Fredrick Smith expressed his concerns on the same.
The fact that FedEx has a significant presence in China has given rise to worries over substantial revenue loss due to the weakening of trade following the tariffs. We note that FedEx opened a hub in Shanghai in January 2018 to strengthen its foothold in China.
Last week, the White House announced plans to impose 25% tariff on $50 billion worth of imports. President Donald Trump is expected to start taxing products worth $34 billion as early as Jul 6 while he will levy tariff on the additional goods of $16 billion later. Beijing said it will counter the move, imposing tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products.
However, Trump will attack the Chinese retaliation by imposing tariff on yet another $200-billion worth of Chinese goods. Also, it will levy tax on further $200 billion of Chinese products in case China still refuses to withdraw.
These mounting trade tensions certainly do not bode well for FedEx and might further impact the stock.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
FedEx carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Transportation sector are GATX Corporation GATX, SkyWest, Inc. SKYW and Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. EXPD. While GATX and SkyWest carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), Expeditors sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
In the past six months, shares of GATX and Expeditors have rallied more than 15% and 18%, respectively, while SkyWest stock has gained above 5%.
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