Saia, Inc. (NASDAQ: SAIA) shares plunge Friday, as the company, a leading transportation provider offering national less-than-truckload (LTL), non-asset truckload, expedited and logistics services, today reported first-quarter 2024 financial results. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $3.38 compared to $2.85 in the first quarter of 2023.
Revenue was $754.8 million, a 14.3% increase. Operating income was $117.9 million, an 18.9% increase. Operating ratio of 84.4% compared to 85.0%
LTL shipments per workday increased 15.7%; LTL tonnage per workday increased 6.2%; LTL revenue per hundredweight, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, increased 10.5%; LTL revenue per shipment, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, increased 1.4%
Saia CEO Fritz Holzgrefe, commented on the quarter stating, “As is typical in the first quarter of the year, winter weather impacted operations in the first months of the quarter. March trends improved a bit from February, but we did not experience the expected seasonal step-up. Shipment growth of 15.7% for the full quarter included March shipments per workday increasing by 16.8% from the prior year.
“Despite volume being below our expectations late in the quarter, we continued to focus on our customer service metrics which saw continued improvement, reflecting our ongoing commitment to provide an excellent service product for customers.”
SAIA shares fell $91.41, or 16.8% to $451.61.