FedEx To Report 3Q Earnings On 3/17, Sterne Agee Maintains Buy

Sterne Agee has published a research report on FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX) in anticipation of the company's 3Q earnings report scheduled for Thursday, March 17.

In the report, Sterne Agee writes "our industry contacts tell us 1Q (Fiscal 3Q for FDX) was a better volume and pricing quarter than expected, but you'd never know it given the global macro concerns. We expect the Company to earn $0.81/share, which is below Consensus expectations of $0.83. Management expects to report adjusted EPS of $0.70-$0.90 (per the pre-announcement on February 14), which excludes $0.08-$0.12 of costs related to the consolidation of the Company's TL and LTL businesses. We expect sales to increase 8%, a modest deceleration from the 12% in 2Q11 and 18% in 1Q11. We are forecasting a 20 bps deterioration in margins to 4.6% given higher fuel prices and severe winter weather – we believe the split is roughly 10 cents weather and 15 cents fuel."

Sterne Agee maintains its Buy rating and $114 price target.

FedEx Corporation closed yesterday at $87.67.