The United Parcel Service Inc. said on Tuesday (Feb. 2) that profits were roughly triple those seen a year ago and beat Street consensus on the quarter just past. A key driver was faster but extensive use of mail to get through the holiday season, and fundamentals seem strong enough to support sanguine guidance for 2016.
Earnings were better than the Street, with the bottom line coming in at $1.33 billion ($1.48/share), compared to about $453 million ($0.49/share) the year prior.
That positive outlook comes in stark contrast to the dour notes sounded by peers and competitors about the state of the global economy.
[bctt tweet=”The positive UPS outlook comes in stark contrast to the dour notes sounded by peers and competitors about the state of the global economy.”]
The results, according to The Wall Street Journal, saw eCommerce as a crucial plan of expansion. The latest numbers benefited from the robustness of the holiday season, including continued expansion of eCommerce as a shopping tool for consumers. The consumer model remains resilient; UPS delivered 60 percent of all of December’s transactions, compared with 45 percent in the third quarter.
In terms of cost savings tied to cash flow management, the company said that it has shifted more than 35 percent of SurePost package deliveries into its own network, which made it possible to boost the number of packages being delivered at each stop made by a driver. The payoff can be significant as each 10 percent in additional package “flow” or clustering together can help boost operating income by $200 million. During the analyst call to discuss results, Chief Commercial Officer Alan Gershenhorn said that such tie-ins show that “the things that we are doing to our network now are going to enable us to handle bigger and bigger peaks.”
Guidance from UPS posits that earnings should be in the range of $5.70 to $5.90, which would indicate growth of between 5 percent and 9 percent and would bracket the $5.73 that analysts expect.
’Twas the night before Christmas in the year twenty-four,
When the CFPB stirred like never before.
The firewalls were up, and the systems secure,
As open banking loomed, both exciting and sure.
The bankers were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of APIs danced in their heads.
With data rights and access, and new rules galore,
The industry was changing right down to its core.
When out on the network there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my desk to see what was the matter.
Away to the dashboard, I flew like a flash,
Turned on all alerts, ready to clash.
The glow of the screens in the new command center
Gave a luster of high-tech to each data preventer.
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a quantum-encrypted sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than real-time payments they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Section 1033! Now, Dodd-Frank! Now, FinTech and Blockchain!
On, Data Rights! On, Privacy! On, Pay by Bank and Open Banking!
To the top of the cloud! To the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!
As phishing attempts that before filters fly
When they meet with detection, fail and die,
So up to the secure servers the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of safe tech, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in Kevlar, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all fitted with anti-theft to boot.
A bundle of secure chips he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a regulator just testing a hack.
His eyes — how they scanned! His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like firewalls, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a smart card he held tight in his teeth,
And the data encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like encrypted jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings with tech that won’t irk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Secure data for all, and to all a good night!”