- Summary:
- Fedex shares slump on disappointing earnings and 2020 earnings forecast downgrades; company blames US-China trade war, higher costs and lower prices.
Fedex Stocks Slump in Premarket on Earnings Forecast Slash
Stocks of Fedex slumped by more than 7% in pre-market trading as the company’s earnings and revenues disappointed to the downside. Fedex also downgraded its earnings forecasts for 2020, citing escalating costs and slimmer revenues.
Fedex saw its earnings slip by more than 38% to $2.51 per share, which was less than the market expectation of a slip in earnings to $2.79. Operating margins tumbled to 3.2%, down from the 5.9% that was recorded in the same period in 2018. Revenues fell by 3%, and earnings forecast for 2020 were downgraded yet again from September’s downgrade, with the company projecting to earn between $10.25 per share to $11.50 per share. This is also lower than market expectations which had projected earnings of between $11 and $13 per share for 2020.
Fedex Is Experiencing Strong Business Headwinds
The company is blaming the US-China trade war as well as a feud with e-commerce giant Amazon. Fedex has seen an extensive part of its market share taken up by Amazon’s foray into the shipping and logistics space. Fedex had acquired TNT Express in order to increase its European footprint, but this has so far not produced the expected results as the expansion has proven to be expensive.
Read our Best Trading Ideas for 2020.
Technical Outlook for Fedex
Fedex stocks (FDX: NYSE) is presently trading at 148.52, opening with a downside gap after closing at 163.54 a day earlier in a losing position. This downside gap has succeeded in taking out two support areas at 159.82 and 155.53, thus invalidating the developing double bottom pattern on the chart.
Fedex has been in a long term downtrend and is now trading close to the $147.52 price support (previous lows of June 20, 2016 and August 28, 2019). A break of this level to the downside sends Fedex stocks tumbling towards the 140.26 mark, which marks the lows seen on September 18, 2015 and recently on October 2, 2019.
On the flip side, attempts by Fedex to close the downside gap could bring the previous support at 155.53 as the initial new resistance, with 159.82 being the next upside target after this area. These may be some of the several price areas where selling on rallies could make a lot of sense.