United Parcel Service (UPS.US) raised full-year revenue guidance to signal strong demand during the holiday season

The Zhitong Finance App learned that United Parcel (UPS.US) announced the results for the third quarter of 2026 in advance of the US stock market on October 27. Consolidated revenue for the quarter was US$22.85 billion, up 6.7% year on year, and all three business segments grew; the adjusted diluted earnings per share were US$1.69, higher than LSEG's agreed expectation of US$1.63, and revenue was also higher than the US$22.29 billion forecast. Under GAAP, operating profit of $1.74 billion and diluted earnings per share of $1.37 were down 3.3% and 11.6% year over year.

Almost all of this quarter's revenue growth came from price rather than volume. The consolidated average daily package volume was 18.61 million, a year-on-year decrease of 4.2%, including a decrease of 3.3% within the US and 8.7% internationally; revenue per item was 15.96 US dollars, up 7.7% year on year. The US domestic sector's revenue was US$14.87 billion, up 4.5%, and adjusted operating profit increased 14.3% to US$1.03 billion. The adjusted operating margin was 7.0%, up 0.6 percentage points from the same period last year. The international sector's revenue increased by 7.1%, and the operating profit margin was 14.9%.

Revenue in the supply chain solutions segment increased by 18.2%, mainly due to the expansion of the freight forwarding and logistics (including healthcare) business, but adjusted operating profit fell 48.9% to US$274 million; the company accrued US$182 million in goodwill impairment in this sector during the quarter. In the same period last year, the sector recorded sales and leaseback revenue of US$330 million, which constituted a high comparative base.

The company raised its fourth quarter and full year guidelines at the same time, for the second consecutive quarter, indicating that the express delivery giant is expected to benefit from high prices and resilient demand during the holiday season. Despite increasing inflationary pressure, UPS remains optimistic about entering the last few months of the year. The company is working hard to recover from years of sluggish demand in the parcel delivery market and push forward distribution network reforms to cut costs and improve efficiency.

According to the data, the annual revenue is expected to be about US$92.6 billion, the previous value is US$91.2 billion, the adjusted operating profit is about US$8.75 billion, the adjusted earnings per share is about US$7.28, and the adjusted free cash flow target has been raised from approximately US$5.5 billion to approximately US$6.1 billion. Fourth-quarter revenue is expected to be approximately US$25.7 billion.

CEO Carol Tomé said the company entered the year-end peak season with “the most automated and efficient network in history.” Operating cash flow for the first nine months was US$5.99 billion and free cash flow was US$4.22 billion, up 53.8% year on year. After the financial report was announced, UPS's pre-market stock price rose slightly.