Marine Transportation Stocks Q4 Highlights: Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG)
As the craze of earnings season draws to a close, here’s a look back at some of the most exciting (and some less so) results from Q4. Today, we are looking at marine transportation stocks, starting with Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG).
The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, presenting opportunities for marine transportation companies. While ocean freight is more fuel efficient and therefore cheaper than its air and ground counterparts, it results in slower delivery times, presenting a trade off. To improve transit speeds, the industry continues to invest in digitization to optimize fleets and routes. However, marine transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins. Geopolitical tensions can also affect access to trade routes, and if certain countries are banned from using passageways like the Panama Canal, costs can spiral out of control.
The 5 marine transportation stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 3.3%.
Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 20.3% since the latest earnings results.
Weakest Q4: Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG)
Operating one of the youngest fleets in the industry, Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG) is an international provider of marine transportation services, specializing in the shipment of refined petroleum.
Scorpio Tankers reported revenues of $192.1 million, down 42.5% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 3.6%. Overall, it was a softer quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.
Scorpio Tankers delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 31.2% since reporting and currently trades at $32.96.
Read our full report on Scorpio Tankers here, it’s free .
Best Q4: Matson (NYSE:MATX)
Founded by a Swedish orphan, Matson (NYSE:MATX) is a provider of ocean transportation and logistics services.
Matson reported revenues of $890.3 million, up 12.9% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4.5%. The business had a very strong quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.
Matson achieved the fastest revenue growth among its peers. The stock is down 27.3% since reporting. It currently trades at $102.73.
Is now the time to buy Matson? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free .