Overview

* Heartland Express ( HTLD ) Q3 operating revenue missed analyst expectations

* Net loss for Q3 was $8.3 mln, beating analyst estimates

* Company repurchased $1.4 mln of common stock during Q3

Outlook

* Heartland Express ( HTLD ) does not expect material market improvements until 2026

* Company projects 2025 capital expenditures of $27 mln to $30 mln

* Heartland Express ( HTLD ) expects $21 mln to $24 mln in gains from equipment disposal in 2025

Result Drivers

* FREIGHT MARKET CHALLENGES - Co cites excess capacity and weak freight demand as factors impacting results

* BRAND PERFORMANCE - Heartland Express ( HTLD ) and Millis Transfer operated profitably; Smith Transport returned to profitability

* TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES - Co completed transportation management system upgrades across all brands, aiming to improve efficiency

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q3 Miss $196.50 $212.40

Operatin mln mln (4

g Analysts

revenue )

Q3 Net Beat -$8.30 -$8.72

Income mln mln (3

Analysts

)

Q3 Basic -$0.11

EPS

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "hold" and the breakdown of recommendations is no "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and 2 "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the ground freight & logistics peer group is "buy."

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Heartland Express Inc ( HTLD ) is $8.50, about 11.1% above its October 30 closing price of $7.56

Press Release:

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact [email protected]. For any other questions or feedback, contact .

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)