J.B. Hunt’s Q4 Earnings Spark Analyst Downgrades
Earnings Miss Expectations, Pricing Pressure Takes Toll
J.B. Hunt’s (JBHT) latest quarterly earnings report has sparked a wave of analyst downgrades, with Bank of America (BofA) leading the charge. The firm’s analyst, Ken Hoexter, slashed the company’s price target to $189 from $206, citing significant year-over-year declines in adjusted Q4 EPS.
Near-Term Challenges Weigh on Estimates
Despite beating both BofA’s target and the Street’s consensus estimate, J.B. Hunt’s Q4 performance was marred by an 18% year-over-year drop in adjusted EPS. This has prompted Hoexter to lower the firm’s Q1, 2025, and 2026 EPS estimates by 24%, 15%, and 16%, respectively. The primary drivers of these downward revisions are near-term pricing and cost pressures.
Industry Peers Follow Suit
BofA’s downgrade is not an isolated incident. Other prominent analysts have also reduced their price targets for J.B. Hunt. UBS, for instance, lowered its target to $196 from $211, while Barclays and Citi reduced theirs to $180 from $190 and $193 from $204, respectively. Stifel, on the other hand, bucked the trend, raising its target to $174 from $161. Wells Fargo also lowered its target to $190 from $200.
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