JB Hunt Stock Sinks as Logistics Firm’s Executives Say Tariffs Could Hit Demand

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) fell Wednesday morning as comments from executives on the potential impact of tariffs outweighed an estimate-beating first quarter.

The trucking company on Tuesday reported first-quarter revenue of $2.92 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $1.17, both down year-over-year but just above analysts’ consensus estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Several J.B. Hunt executives spoke on Tuesday’s earnings call about how tariffs are impacting demand from its customers, as well as its own costs. CEO Shelley Simpson said the company’s leadership “has explored various options” to “more aggressively eliminate costs in some of our scenario planning analysis,” according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense.

J.B. Hunt shares sank 6.5% in premarket trading Wednesday. They entered the day having lost more than 20% of their value since the start of the year.

Tariffs Could ‘Impact Both Supply and Demand’

Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Spencer Frazier said that tariffs “have the potential to impact both supply and demand, but the magnitude and timing is difficult to predict,” according to AlphaSense.

“Our customers continue to plan for multiple what if scenarios, but most of them are waiting for the dust to settle to determine how tariffs might influence and change their short- and long-term business strategies,” Frazier added. “As part of this scenario planning process, some customers are considering ways to alter supply chain freight flows and/or their country of origin sourcing. But these changes will be part of a much longer decision process.”

Some customers are adjusting their supply chain in a number of ways like bringing in some shipments ahead of schedule, changing where they get products from, or possibly delaying or canceling some orders, Frazier said.