06:36 AM EST, 01/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) shares dropped early Friday as the transportation and logistics company's fourth-quarter earnings missed Wall Street expectations while revenue came in ahead of estimates.

Net earnings increased to $1.53 per share for the December quarter from $1.47 the year before, the company said late Thursday, trailing the FactSet-polled consensus for $1.62. Revenue fell 5% to $3.15 billion, but topped the Street's view for $3.13 billion.

The company attributed the decrease in revenue mainly to declines in revenue per load, excluding fuel surcharge, in its intermodal and truckload segments. The result was also impacted by a decrease in average trucks in the dedicated contract services unit and declines in load volume in integrated capacity solutions. The stock fell 10% in premarket activity.

"As a general overview, we saw signs of seasonality across the business and experienced a strong intermodal peak season," Chief Financial Officer John Kuhlow said during a conference call, according to a FactSet transcript. "That said, the deflationary rate environment, coupled with an inflationary cost environment, weighed on margins versus the prior year."

Sales in the intermodal business declined 2% to $1.6 billion as a 5% gain in volume was offset by a 6% decrease in revenue per load due to changes in freight mix, customer rates and fuel surcharge revenue, according to the company. Dedicated contract services sales were down 5% to $838.5 million amid declines in both average trucks and productivity.

The integrated capacity solutions segment recorded a 15% drop in revenue to $307.6 million as volume slid 22% year over year. Truckload sales retreated 7% to about $182 million, while the final mile services segment decreased 6% due to weak demand across many of the company's end markets.

Operating income inclined to $207 million from $203.3 million in the prior-year quarter. Operating expenses fell to $2.94 billion from $3.1 billion on an annual basis, the company said.

"Looking to 2025, we expect inflationary cost pressure to continue in the areas of insurance premiums and people costs," Kuhlow said on the call. The company anticipates its capital expenditures to be between $700 million and $900 million for the current year, up from $674 million in 2024, Kuhlow told analysts.

The company anticipates its operating income for the current quarter to decrease by approximately 20% to 25%, consistent with the rate of decline experienced last year, "given normal seasonality on a sequential basis," Kuhlow said.