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FedEx to top forecasts
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October 29, 2001: 10:09 a.m. ET
No. 2 package deliverer will top 2Q target despite costs of Sept. 11 attack.
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NEW YORK (CNNmoney) - FedEx Corp. announced Monday it will be able to deliver better-than-expected profit for its current fiscal quarter despite the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the package delivery' company's business.
The No. 2 package delivery company said it sees fiscal second-quarter earnings of 40 to 45 cents a share, excluding federal assistance it received, for the quarter ending Nov. 30. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call were looking for the company to earn 35 cents a share.
FedEx (FDX: up $1.81 to $41.29, Research, Estimates) stock jumped about 2 percent in early trading after the announcement.
The earnings would still be down from the 67 cents a share the Memphis-based company earned a year ago, but would be better than most analysts' currentestimates, which range from 21 to 46 cents a share.
Analysts had been looking for the carrier to earn 52 cents a share before the attack, but lowered those estimates following its fiscal first-quarter earnings report soon after the attack. While cargo carriers have seen far less of a drop in business than passenger carriers, the slowing of the U.S. economy in the wake of the attack prompted the lower earnings expectations.
FedEx competitor United Parcel Service (UPS: up $0.65 to $51.45, Research, Estimates), the biggest package deliverer and the world's largest transportation company, warned Sept. 28 it would miss Wall Street's earnings forecasts for the third-quarter.
FedEx cited cost controls and growth in business at its ground service, as well as its contract to carry priority mail for the U.S. Postal Service, which took effect Aug. 27. The company said it is seeing lower volume in both domestic and international express packages.
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Including the $101 million in federal assistance FedEx received as part of a $5 billion bailout package for the U.S. aviation industry, the company said profits would be about 61 to 66 cents a share for the quarter. Analysts have been excluding those payments for purposes of comparisons to forecasts. 
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