Canadian Pacific Q1 Earnings & Revenues Miss Estimates, Improve Y/Y
Canadian Pacific Kansas CityCP reported unimpressive first-quarter 2026 results, wherein both earnings and revenues missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings (excluding 7 cents from non-recurring items) of 76 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 78 cents. The bottom line improved 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Operating revenues of $2.69 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.71 billion. However, the top line improved 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.
In the reported quarter, total Freight revenues per revenue ton miles fell 4% year over year. Total Freight revenues per carload declined 1% year over year.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited Quote
On a reported basis, operating income decreased 4.5% year over year. Total operating expenses fell 1.4% year over year.
CP’s Segmental Highlights
Freight revenues, which accounted for 98% of the top line, decreased 3% year over year. CP’s Freight segment contains Grain (up 11%), Coal (down 12%), Potash (down 4%), Fertilizers and Sulphur (down 2%), Metals, minerals and consumer products (down 2%), Automotive (down 6%) and Intermodal (down 3%). Meanwhile, Energy, chemicals and plastics and Forest products fell 8% and 17% year over year, respectively.
Other revenues increased 7% year over year in the first quarter of 2026.
CP’s Liquidity
CP exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of C$409 million compared with C$184 million at the prior-quarter end. Long-term debt amounted to C$21.88 billion compared with C$19.94 billion at the prior-quarter end.
CP’s Outlook
Canadian Pacific expects 2026 core adjusted earnings per share to grow in the low double-digits from the 2025 actuals to C$4.61 per share.
The company expects 2026 RTMs to increase in the mid-single digits from the 2025 actuals.
Management expects capital expenditures to be C$2.65 billion for the full year. The core adjusted effective tax rate for 2026 is expected to be 24.75%.
Currently, Canadian Pacific carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL) reported first-quarter 2026 earnings (excluding $1.08 from non-recurring items) of 64 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents. Earnings increased 39.1% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs. Adjusted revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.2 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14 billion and increasing on a year-over-year basis.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) reported solid first-quarter 2026 results wherein the company’s earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate as well as improved on a year-over-year basis.
UAL's first-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 95 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.19 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 and increased 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $1.00-$1.50.
Operating revenues of $14.6 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.3 billion and increased 10.5% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.1% of the top line) increased 11% year over year to $13.1 billion. UAL flights transported 42,486 passengers in the first quarter, up 4.1% year over year.
Cargo revenues fell 1.6% year over year to $422 million. Revenues from other sources rose 10.5% year over year to $1.02 billion.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT posted first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.49, up 27% from $1.17 a year ago. The result topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.04, a 2.8% surprise.
Operating revenues totaled $3.06 billion, rising 4.6% year over year. Revenues beat the consensus mark of $2.94 billion, resulting in a 3.9% surprise, as demand proved resilient across several service offerings, led by Intermodal volume growth and higher revenue per load in select highway-related businesses.
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