Paul Ziobro reports on FedEx’s strong quarterly performance in The Wall Street Journal, writing:
Christmas came in July for FedEx Corp. FDX 0.14% The delivery company posted the highest quarterly revenue in its history as the coronavirus pandemic spurred residential-shipment levels normally seen during the holiday season.
FedEx shipped 31% more packages a day through its Ground network during the summer months. The extra cargo boosted profit more than 60% for the three months ended Aug. 31.
More consumers are buying products such as laptops and toilet paper online because of temporary store closures and pandemic restrictions. That has primarily been a boon to the FedEx Ground business, which handles shipments for chains such as Target Corp. TGT 0.42% and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. DKS 0.24% Those retailers reported e-commerce sales more than doubled in their latest quarters.
FedEx expects the trend to stick. It now projects an average of 100 million parcels will be shipped daily in the U.S. across all carriers sometime in 2023, compared with its previous forecast of hitting that milestone in 2026.
“The growth we expected to see in three to five years happened in a matter of three to five months,” Raj Subramaniam, the company’s chief operating officer, said on a conference call.