NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
FedEx Corp. delivered a surprising jump in quarterly earnings and made a bullish forecast for the current quarter, sparking Wednesday's rally in the stock of the leading overnight package delivery company.
FedEx (FDX: up $3.27 to $71.70, Research, Estimates) stock jumped about 5 percent in afternoon New York Stock Exchange trading.
The express and freight delivery company said it earned $216 million, or 71 cents a share, in its third fiscal quarter ended Feb. 29, excluding costs from a previously announced staff reduction.
That's up from net income of $147 million, or 49 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had an average forecast of 67 cents a share.
Including the one-time charges the company had net income of $207 million, or 68 cents a share.
Revenue rose to $6.1 billion from $5.6 billion in the year-earlier quarter, topping the First Call forecast of $5.8 billion.
The Kinko's copy center chain, which FedEx acquired during the quarter, added about $100 million in revenue and a penny a share in profit, the company said.
The company said it expects fourth-quarter earnings of $1.15 to $1.25 a share excluding one-time items. First Call's consensus forecast is $1.16 a share, with estimates ranging from $1.05 to $1.30. The company earned 92 cents a share a year earlier.
|
