NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - FedEx Corp. reported improved results Tuesday that edged past market forecasts, but it said current-quarter results would be below Wall Street's consensus estimate.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based freight delivery company earned $236 million, or 78 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended May 31, up from $191 million, or 64 cents a share, excluding special items, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had a consensus forecast of 77 cents for the latest period.

Revenue rose to $5.42 billion from $5.12 billion a year earlier. First Call's forecast was $5.38 billion. The company said a contract to transport first-class mail for the U.S. Postal Service helped improve revenue. But the end of a fuel surcharge being charged to customers reduced revenue even more than the cost savings the company saw from lower fuel prices.

But the company said it expects fiscal first-quarter earnings per share to be between 40 and 50 cents, well below the First Call consensus forecast of 57 cents. The estimates of analysts surveyed by the earnings tracking firm ranged from 48 to 60 cents a share. The company earned 41 cents a share, excluding a charge for a change in accounting practices, a year earlier.

Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf bristled during a call with analysts, saying the first-quarter guidance is the first for the period from the company, and therefore not a downward revision or warning from the company. He questioned the models used by the analysts who were polled to form the consensus first-quarter forecast. He pointed out that the First Call consensus forecast for the second quarter would be for a slight decrease in earnings per share, despite the company's outlook of improved results.

"I believe there are confusions in the model to seasonality and cyclicality (sic) of our business," he said. "We believe the economic recovery will pick up steam in the second half of the fiscal year. We don't need a lot to hit that number."

FedEx (FDX: down $8.02 to $48.00, Research, Estimates) CEO Fred Smith told CNNfn that the company has seen some customers switch from UPS, mainly for ground shipments, ahead of a possible UPS strike, but not in the reported quarter.

"In the quarter we just reported, we did not see much effect from the UPS/Teamster situation," said Smith. "But we have seen some impact in the last few weeks."

Graf said he is comfortable with First Call's full-year fiscal 2003 earnings per share forecast of $2.77, up from the record $2.34 a share it earned excluding special charges in the just-completed fiscal year. The full-year consensus estimate is based on forecasts of 18 analysts while only nine had forecasts for the first quarter.