Press Releases

Highlights:        

• Record quarterly revenue of $1.1 billion, up 16% as compared to last year, driven by strong demand conditions and the benefits of our continued investment in the business
• Record gross margin of $158 million (14.7% of revenue) driven by favorable pricing and yield improvement, combined with our continued focus on operating efficiency, resulted in third quarter operating income margin of 5.6% of revenue
• Record net income of $43 million or $1.28 of diluted earnings per share (EPS), which represents year-on-year growth of 73%
• Generated EBITDA (non-GAAP)¹ of $92 million in the quarter
• Expanded our brokerage and refrigerated transportation offerings through the acquisition of Choptank Transport in October
• Increased expected full year 2021 diluted earnings per share to $3.90 - $4.00

OAK BROOK, Ill., Oct. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hub Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HUBG) announced third quarter 2021 net income of $43 million, or diluted earnings per share of $1.28.   Net income for third quarter 2020 was $25 million, or $0.74 per diluted share.  

“Continued strong freight demand and favorable market conditions, combined with our drive to provide a world-class customer experience, resulted in 16% revenue growth in the quarter compared to Q3 2020. Our ongoing focus on yield improvement and operating efficiency led to record profitability. We reported record quarterly diluted EPS of $1.28, which represents growth of 73% as compared to the prior year. Finally, we are very excited about the additional scale and expanded service offerings from our recent acquisition of Choptank Transport,” said Dave Yeager, Hub Group’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.  

Third Quarter 2021 Results

Revenue for the third quarter of 2021 increased by 16% to $1.1 billion compared with $925 million for the third quarter of 2020. Operating income for the quarter was $60 million (5.6% of revenue) versus $34 million (3.7% of revenue) for the third quarter of 2020.   EBITDA (non-GAAP)¹ for the third quarter was $92 million.

Third quarter intermodal revenue increased 17% to $633 million due to a 26% increase in revenue per load, partially offset by an 8% decline in volume due to ongoing challenges with congestion across the supply chain. Intermodal gross margin increased compared to the prior year as higher prices and cost recovery more than offset increased purchased transportation costs and lower volume.  

Third quarter logistics revenue increased 17% to $224 million due to growth of our retail supplier solutions services and from the addition of our final mile business in December 2020. Gross margin increased due to revenue growth, yield management initiatives and the acquisition of final mile, partially offset by higher warehousing and transportation costs.

Truck brokerage revenue grew 28% in the quarter to $153 million due to a 31% increase in revenue per load partially offset by a 3% decline in volume. Contractual freight represented 51% of total brokerage volume in the third quarter of 2021 as compared to 61% in 2020. Gross margin increased relative to third quarter 2020 due to revenue per load growth in both contractual and transactional freight, partially offset by the impact of higher purchased transportation costs.

Dedicated revenue decreased 7% compared to the prior year to $64 million due to declines from existing customers and the impact of business we exited, partially offset by growth with new customers. Dedicated gross margin decreased primarily due to lower revenue, higher insurance and claims, and maintenance and repair expenses.

Costs and expenses increased to $98 million in the third quarter of 2021 due primarily to higher variable compensation expense, operating costs of our final mile acquisition, expenses related to legal settlements, and costs related to the acquisition of Choptank Transport (“Choptank”), partially offset by higher gains on the sale of equipment.

Capital expenditures for the third quarter of 2021 totaled $58 million. At September 30, 2021, we had cash and cash equivalents of $231 million.   In October we acquired Choptank for approximately $130 million in cash and in connection with the acquisition we issued $20 million of restricted stock to Choptank’s owners and senior management team.

2021 Outlook

We expect that our 2021 diluted earnings per share will range from $3.90 to $4.00. We estimate revenue will grow in the high-teens percentage range for 2021, and that gross margin as a percentage of revenue will range from 13.3% to 13.7%. We estimate our costs and expenses will range from $365 to $375 million for the year. We project our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter will be approximately 24%.

We expect capital expenditures for fiscal year 2021 to range from $150 to $160 million.   For 2021 we expect to add 3,000 containers, which will result in net growth of approximately 2,750 after retirements of containers that have reached end of life. In 2021 we ordered over 650 tractors to replace older units and support growth in our drayage and dedicated fleets, however we expect approximately 150 of these will be delivered in early 2022.

Non-GAAP Financial Measure

In this press release, we present EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure of profitability defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. As required by the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), we have provided herein a reconciliation of this non-GAAP financial measure to Net Income, the most directly comparable measure under GAAP. Management believes that EBITDA provides relevant and useful information, which is used by our management as well as by many analysts, investors and competitors in our industry. By providing this non-GAAP measure, management intends to provide investors with a meaningful, consistent comparison of the Company’s profitability for the periods presented. EBITDA should be viewed in addition to, and not as an alternative to or substitute for, measures determined in accordance with GAAP, and is not necessarily comparable to non-GAAP measures that may be presented by other companies.   

CONFERENCE CALL

Hub Group, Inc. will hold a conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on October 28, 2021 to discuss our third quarter 2021 results.

Hosting the conference call will be Dave Yeager, Chairman and CEO. Also participating on the call will be Phil Yeager, President and Chief Operating Officer, and Geoff DeMartino, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.

This call is being webcast and can be accessed through the Investors link on Hub Group’s web site at www.hubgroup.com. The webcast is listen-only. Those interested in participating in the question and answer session should follow the telephone dial-in instructions below.

To participate in the conference call by telephone, please register at: https://www.yourconferencecenter.com/confcenter/PinCode/Pin_Code.aspx?100374&o=UrwfgPrJQQNDwx

Registrants will be issued a passcode and PIN to use when dialing into the live call which will provide quickest access to the conference. You may register at any time, including up to and after the call start time. On the day of the call, dial (888) 206-4064 approximately ten minutes prior to the scheduled call time; enter the participant passcode and PIN received during registration. The call will be limited to 60 minutes, including questions and answers.

An audio replay will be available through the Investors link on the Company's web site at www.hubgroup.com. This replay will be available for 30 days.

CERTAIN FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: Statements in this press release that are not historical may express or imply projections of revenues or expenditures, statements of plans and objectives or future operations or statements of future economic performance. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that might cause the actual performance of Hub Group, Inc. to differ materially from those expressed or implied by this discussion and, therefore, should be viewed with caution. All forward-looking statements and information are provided pursuant to the safe harbor established under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be evaluated in the context of these factors. Forward-looking statements generally may be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “trends”, “assumptions”, “target”, “guidance”, “outlook”, “opportunity”, “future”, “plans”, “goals”, “objectives”, “expects”, “anticipate”, “expected”, “may”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “intend”, “believe”, “potential”, “projected”, “estimate” (or the negative or derivative of each of these terms), or similar words, and include our statements regarding our outlook, profit improvement initiatives and capital expenditures. These forward-looking statements are based on management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions, and anticipated future developments, as well as other factors believed to be appropriate. We believe these statements and the assumptions and estimates contained in this release are reasonable based on information that is currently available to us. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include general or regional economic conditions and health concerns; the effect of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including any spikes, outbreaks or variants of the virus, as well as any future government actions taken in response to the pandemic, including on our business operations, as well as its impact on general economic and financial market conditions and on our customers, counterparties, employees and third-party service providers; our ability to sustain or the effects of plans intended to improve operational execution and performance; changes in or implementation of governmental or regulatory rules and interpretations affecting tax, wage and hour matters, health and safety, labor and employment, insurance or other undeterminable areas; intermodal costs and prices, the integration of NSD and Choptank and any other acquisitions and expenses relating thereto; the future performance of Hub’s Intermodal, Truck Brokerage, Dedicated and Logistics business lines; driver shortages; the amount and timing of strategic investments or divestitures by Hub; the failure to implement and integrate critical information technology systems; cyber security incidents; retail and other customers encountering adverse economic conditions and other factors described from time to time in Hub Group's SEC reports, press releases and other communications. Hub Group assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.  

SOURCE:   Hub Group, Inc.                CONTACT: Maralee Volchko of Hub Group, Inc., +1-630-271-3745

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¹ See the “Non-GAAP Financial Measure” section of this release for the definition of EBITDA and a discussion of this non-GAAP financial measure.