Three of Jacksonville’s largest companies reported positive results for the first quarter late April 22.
Not surprisingly, CSX Corp., Fidelity National Financial Inc. and Landstar System Inc. all expressed uncertainty about the outlook for the second quarter and beyond.
CSX reported first-quarter earnings of $1 a share, 2 cents lower than the first quarter of 2019 but higher than the consensus forecast of 92 cents by analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
Revenue for the railroad company fell 5% to $2.86 billion, with declines in coal and automobile shipments offsetting gains from merchandise and other freight.
In a late afternoon conference call, CEO Jim Foote said it is difficult to predict how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact freight shipments going forward.
“The potential range of outcomes for both production and demand, as well as the potential shape of the recovery, are too wide to predict at this time,” he said.
Foote said CSX will take “appropriate steps” to control costs but also focus on maintaining customer service levels.
“We have worked too hard to get this right to go backwards,” he said.
CSX, which has been reducing its workforce over the past three years, had 20,455 employees at the end of the first quarter, down from 20,908 at the end of 2019.
Foote said the company is in good shape financially with $2.5 billion in cash and short-term investments available.
“Importantly, CSX entered into this period with a dramatically different cash flow profile than at any point in the company’s history,” he said.
Fidelity
Another Jacksonville-based Fortune 500 company, Fidelity, reported adjusted earnings of 73 cents a share, up from 43 cents a year ago.
Revenue for the title insurance company fell 6% to $1.61 billion.
“Given the spread of the pandemic and the broad shelter in place orders issued by state governments, we have seen a decline in refinance and purchase orders thus far in the second quarter and expect orders to continue declining,” Fidelity Chairman Bill Foley said in a news release.
“Given our team’s long history and experience operating through unanticipated challenges such as the housing crisis of 2008 and the following economic downturn, we are well versed in understanding and reacting to difficult economic environments,” he said.
Landstar
Fortune 1000 trucking company Landstar reported earnings of $1.04 a share, down from $1.58 in the first quarter of 2019. However, the earnings were within the company’s forecast range made before the pandemic of $1.10 to $1.20.
“Landstar performed as we anticipated until the final week of the quarter,” CEO Jim Gattoni said in a news release.
The company is not making any forecasts for the second quarter because of the uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic, but Gattoni said “we do not expect to take any drastic cost reduction measures” in the quarter.
“We believe Landstar is in a good position operationally and financially to withstand the most significant and rapid decline of the U.S. economy in recent history,” he said.