UPS Slashes Its Profit Forecast
Updated from 4/08/08
UPS
(UPS) - Get United Parcel Service Inc. Report
cut its first-quarter earnings forecast, citing continued economic weakness.
The Atlanta-based package delivery titan said Tuesday that it now expects to earn 86 cents to 87 cents a share, below a previous forecast of 94 share to 98 cents a share.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 94 cents a share, according to a poll by Thomson Financial.
The company said CFO Kurt Kuehn told an investor conference on March 12 that its profit guidance would be "difficult to achieve" if lower volume trends seen in February seeped into March.
"The U.S. economy has continued to weaken, causing a reduction in domestic package volume and a shift away from premium products. Significantly increased fuel costs in the quarter also contributed to the lower-than-expected results," the company said in a press release Tuesday.
Shares of UPS were off $2.84, or 3.9%, to $70.47 in recent after-hours trading.
Know What You Own
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: UPS operates in the air delivery and freight services industry, and some of the other stocks in its field include
CH Robinson Worldwide
(CHRW) - Get C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. Report
and
FedEx
(FDX) - Get FedEx Corporation Report
. These stocks were recently trading at $58.64, -0.05% and $94.26, -1.86% respectively. For more on the value of knowing what you own, visit TheStreet.com's
section.
This article was written by a staff member of TheStreet.com.
