FedEx (FDX-N)

The CEO is doing a fine job in a very difficult time with all these tariffs. A very good company though can't advise buying a stock that went up 10% today [note: the wider market was up 10% too].

It doesn't do anything with Amazon, contrary to rumours. Shares are down 5% in the past week, but the CEO is doing a fine job. 

Dominated by international and air freight. Today, he'd lean toward a domestic provider like UPS.

He sold it at $295 recently. Loves the company, but earnings revisions came down. He bought at $262. He may re-buy it if the price and valuation are right. FedEx is a dominant player and the management team proves they can execute. The founder family still owns a lot of shares, and such families don't make crazy decision to preserve their stake. Also, cost savings and a huge share buyback are plusses. Also, they have fewer unionized employees than UPS.

It reports Thursday. They're working hard to reduce costs and improve gross margins. This is a nervous period for them because of the coming holiday season.

It's underperformed UPS, but shares have recovered a lot this year due to new management. Merging fleet and air operations helped by lowering costs. They have problems with overseas margins. Prefers Cargojet.

They report Thursday. Is in a big turnaround, cutting costs and growing revenues. The CEO is pulling it off.

They reported a strong quarter last night and shares jumped 15% today, but what really caught the street's eye was the large share buyback they announced. It shows confidence.

He sold FedEx to buy more Apollo. FedEx talked about longer-term costs cuts last quarter, which lifted shares, but cost-cutting is now in the stock. Topline revenue declines are expected next week when they report. The stock hasn't done anything this year.

Typically cyclical, but two trucking companies have recently gone bankrupt. Reshoring will increase trucking, whether less-than-load or full load. Maryland bridge accident stopped a lot of ship traffic, so that should increase demand for rail and trucking at least temporarily. 

International business, which is growing faster than domestic. Likes management. Huge share buybacks. Guided to $17 EPS this year, he thinks can jump easily into $20s by next year. Best operator in the space worldwide. Not a huge valuation. Decent yield of 1.9%.

They're cutting costs, not growing the business organically. Last quarter was really bad, so all they've done today is recover that loss. Give the new CEO some time to straighten out the cost base and then we'll see if things pick up. The stock isn't cheap; shorts are discounting the market but that's where it should be for this cyclical stock.

Cost efficiency can only go so far. They aren't Meta which has Instagram and other levers of growth to pull. Yes, they've cut costs and introduced share buybacks, but after this you need to see organic growth.

Good company. Down from peak, bit of a bounce. Probably will keep pace with market, don't expect outperformance. Going to be part of the e-commerce economy.