Arkansas Best shares soar on 2Q report

The company said daily tonnage levels — or the amount of weight in trucks (a key indication of demand) — continued to fall in the second quarter as compared with a year ago due to an uneven U.S. economy.

The Associated Press

8/1/2012

NEW YORK — Shares of trucking company Arkansas Best Corp. surged in afternoon trading Tuesday after the company reported its net income doubled in the second quarter versus a year earlier. Its adjusted earnings topped Wall Street's expectations.

Trucking companies are good indicators of broader economic health because they carry goods that consumers and businesses use every day.

The Fort Smith, Ark., company reported net income of $11.8 million, or 44 cents per share, compared with $5.3 million, or 20 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding a 33-cents-per-share tax benefit and costs related to a recent acquisition, the company would have reported earnings of 18 cents per share in the most recent quarter.

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That beat analysts' forecast, on average, of 16 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose to 2 percent to $510.5 million from $498.6 million, topping analysts' expectation of $508.6 million.

The company said daily tonnage levels — or the amount of weight in trucks (a key indication of demand) — continued to fall in the second quarter as compared with a year ago due to an uneven U.S. economy. But it said that metric improved in every month of the quarter, which reversed a downward trend a year earlier.

Arkansas Best raised its prices in the last week of the quarter companywide.

The stock rose $1.52, or 12.4 percent, to $13.77 in afternoon trading after rising as high as $14.35 earlier in the day. It has risen 33 percent since hitting a 52-week low of $10.38 in mid-June. It traded as high as $25.27 per share last August.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at kevinj@thetrucker.com.

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