JPMorgan Dials Back Saia Expectations After 'Shocking' Q1, Weak May Tonnage

Saia Inc's SAIA daily tonnage turned negative in May, following the company's "shocking" first-quarter results, according to JPMorgan.

The Saia Analyst: Analyst Brian Ossenbeck reiterated an Overweight rating, while reducing the price target from $299 to $285.

The Saia Thesis: The company had been reporting consistently strong headline tonnage growth, but in May, it fell 0.4% year-on-year, Ossenbeck said in the note.

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The performance in May still represents 9.4% growth on a two-year stack, he added.

"Shipments per day grew +3.5% at ramping facilities and fell -4.5% at legacy facilities in the month, the latter of which management noted is still an outperformance of most peers in the current depressed demand backdrop," the analyst wrote.

He reduced the tons per day forecast for the second quarter by 500 basis points to 1%, to reflect lower shipments per day and weight per shipment estimates.

SAIA Price Action: Shares of Saia had risen by 2.2% to $256.96 at the time of publication on Monday.

Read More:

•  Goldman Turns Bullish On Saia, Sees Room For Shipping Efficiency, Profit Growth

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