Wrapping up Q4 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the ground transportation stocks, including Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD) and its peers.

The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, especially last-mile delivery, presenting opportunities for ground transportation companies. The industry continues to invest in data, analytics, and autonomous fleets to optimize efficiency and find the most cost-effective routes. Despite the essential services this industry provides, ground transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins.

The 15 ground transportation stocks we track reported a softer Q4. As a group, revenues missed analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.1%.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 9.4% since the latest earnings results.

Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD)

Founded by the son of a trucker, Heartland Express (NASDAQ: HTLD) offers full-truckload deliveries across the United States and Mexico.

Heartland Express reported revenues of $179.4 million, down 26.1% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 6%. Overall, it was a softer quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

Heartland Express Chief Executive Officer, Mike Gerdin, commented on the quarterly operating results and ongoing initiatives of the Company, "Our consolidated operating results for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2025, reflect sequential improvement in operations as a direct result of the hard work and discipline of our team and our professional drivers during the most recent quarter and the full year of 2025. While a trade name impairment recorded during the fourth quarter caused operating ratio to deteriorate between the third and fourth quarters of 2025, Non-GAAP adjusted operating ratio(1) sequentially improved through each quarterly period of 2025. Operating ratios throughout 2025 consisted of the following - 106.8% (107.1% adjusted operating ratio(1)) in Q1 2025, 105.9% (106.0% adjusted operating ratio(1)) in Q2 2025, 103.7% (103.5% adjusted operating ratio(1)) in Q3 2025, and 112.7% (101.6% adjusted operating ratio(1)) in Q4 2025. We believe the investments made to improve our internal processes and systems along with the strategic decision to consolidate our two largest operating fleets of drivers into Heartland Express at the end of 2025, have and will continue to allow us to improve our operating results. Further, we believe that this gives us the best probability for success and allows us to better capitalize on potential industry and market improvements in 2026. We believe we are seeing positive signs across the landscape of the transportation industry to reduce excess capacity through both regulatory enforcement and more abrupt exits of capacity. We do not believe that there will be meaningful improvement until some months later in 2026. We are however seeing early trends of positive shifts in customer volume, certain rates, and increasing customer expectations which are a positive change from the last three years of operation. We also point to our operating cash flows, our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock, and our ability to aggressively pay down debt even during a period of prolonged freight weakness in the truckload industry.

Heartland Express delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates and slowest revenue growth of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 9.5% since reporting and currently trades at $9.75.

Read our full report on Heartland Express here, it’s free.

Best Q4: XPO (NYSE: XPO)

Owning a mobile game simulating freight operations for the Tour de France, XPO (NYSE: XPO) is a transportation company specializing in expedited shipping services.

XPO reported revenues of $2.01 billion, up 4.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.9%. The business had an exceptional quarter with a solid beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

XPO scored the biggest analyst estimates beat among its peers. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 7.6% since reporting. It currently trades at $193.26.

Is now the time to buy XPO? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q4: Werner (NASDAQ: WERN)

Conducting business in over a 100 countries, Werner (NASDAQ: WERN) offers full-truckload, less-than-truckload, and intermodal delivery services.

Werner reported revenues of $737.6 million, down 2.3% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 2.8%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates.

As expected, the stock is down 20.8% since the results and currently trades at $30.

Read our full analysis of Werner’s results here.

Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR)

Covering billions of miles throughout North America, Landstar (NASDAQ: LSTR) is a transportation company specializing in freight and last-mile delivery services.

Landstar reported revenues of $1.18 billion, down 2.9% year on year. This print came in 1.4% below analysts' expectations. Overall, it was a slower quarter as it also recorded a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates and a slight miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

The stock is down 3.1% since reporting and currently trades at $148.72.

Read our full, actionable report on Landstar here, it’s free.

Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ)

Started with a dozen Model T Fords, Hertz (NASDAQ: HTZ) is a global car rental company providing vehicle rental services to leisure and business travelers.

Hertz reported revenues of $2.03 billion, flat year on year. This result topped analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. Taking a step back, it was a slower quarter as it produced a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is down 8% since reporting and currently trades at $4.07.

Read our full, actionable report on Hertz here, it’s free.

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