FDX: FedEx Shares Rally After Earnings Beat

The package-shipping company bumped its full-year earnings guidance, betting on cost-cutting measures.

• FedEx shares rose more than 10% in after-hours trading, riding on a comfortable earnings beat and an increase in full-year earnings forecast. The company is pinning its hopes for continued growth on elevated cost-cutting efforts despite some noticeable demand weakness.
• For its fiscal third quarter, the package-shipping firm reported earnings of $3.41 a share from $22.2bn in sales. Analysts were eyeballing per-share earnings of $2.71 on $22.7bn in sales. Net income arrived at $771mn for the period, down from $1.11bn in the year-ago quarter.
• The forward-looking guidance is optimistic, too. After FedEx cut its workforce by 10% last month, it is now introducing a sweeping plan to reduce costs by a whopping $3.17bn in a bid to offset a slowdown in consumer demand. Shares of FedEx are up more than 15% this year.