Matson reports Q3 EPS $3.40, consensus $2.69

Reports Q3 revenue $827.5M, consensus $794.45M. “Matson’s Ocean Transportation and Logistics business segments continued to perform well despite a challenging business environment and relatively difficult economic conditions impacting the U.S. consumer,” said Chairman and CEO Matt Cox. “Within Ocean Transportation, our China service experienced solid freight demand despite the muted peak season in the Transpacific tradelane but generated lower year-over-year volume and freight rates, which were the primary contributors to the year-over-year decline in our consolidated operating income. Currently in the Transpacific marketplace, we continue to see a reduction of deployed capacity in light of lower volumes as a result of lower consumer demand for retail goods. Absent an economic ‘hard landing’ in the U.S., we expect trade dynamics in 2024 to be comparable to 2023 as consumer-related spending activity is expected to remain stable. Regardless of the economic backdrop, we expect to continue to earn a significant rate premium to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index reflecting our fast and reliable ocean services and unmatched destination services.”