FedEx Asks for Patience Investors Don’t Have
It’s not just the global economy. The company’s challenges stem from its own choices.
Delivering disappointment.
Photographer: John Taggart/BloombergFedEx Corp. wants investors to focus on the long term. Investors have questions about how long they have to wait to get there.
The parcel-delivery company reported disappointing fiscal third-quarter earnings after the market close on Tuesday and cut its full-year outlook for the second time in three months. FedEx, which is often regarded as an economic bellwether, set off alarm bells across industries in December when it lowered its guidance and declared that the peak for global growth was behind us. But while sputtering demand in Europe and Asia and a pinch from higher labor costs are playing a role in setting FedEx up for its weakest year of earnings growth since fiscal 2010, the shortfall is also a function of its own choices.