• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Home
  • Daily Diary
  • Asset Class
    • U.S. Equity
    • Fixed Income
    • Global Equity
    • Commodities
    • Currencies
  • Sector
    • Basic Materials
    • Consumer Discretionary
    • Consumer Staples
    • Energy
    • Financial Services
    • Healthcare
    • Industrials
    • Real Estate
    • Technology
    • Telecom Services
    • Transportation
    • Utilities
  • Latest
    • Articles
    • Video
    • Columnist Conversations
    • Best Ideas
    • Stock of the Day
  • Street Notes
  • Authors
    • Bruce Kamich
    • Doug Kass
    • Jim "Rev Shark" DePorre
    • Helene Meisler
    • Jonathan Heller
    • - See All -
  • Options
  • RMPIA
  • Switch Product
    • Action Alerts PLUS
    • Quant Ratings
    • Real Money
    • Real Money Pro
    • Retirement
    • Stocks Under $10
    • TheStreet
    • Top Stocks
    • TheStreet Smarts
  1. Home
  2. / Investing
  3. / Transportation

Cramer: Airline and Rail Kingpins Throw a Wrench Into the Earnings Works

Southwest Air and Union Pacific produce distinctly subpar reports.
By JIM CRAMER Jul 21, 2016 | 11:15 AM EDT
Stocks quotes in this article: UNP, LUV, DAL, AAL, CSX

You know I think the economy is getting better. We have seen numerous better-than-expected quarters.

But today I find myself scratching my head because two of the best transports I follow, Union Pacific (UNP) and Southwest Air (LUV) , the jewels of their respective industries, gave you distinctly subpar reports with some pretty mealy commentary.

First, Southwest announced a very rare miss and said the business had become very competitive. Revenue per average seat mile, the key metric, was very disappointing, down 3.5%. Capacity, the equivalent of inventory when it comes to the bane of the industry, is gunning up 5%-6%. That means more fare cuts in the future as price wars have broken out all over the place.

Union Pacific was stunningly weak. Look at these volume growth numbers: agricultural products plus 2%; automotive down 2%; chemicals off 3%; industrial products losing 11%; intermodal (the trucks on the trains) down 14%; and coal off 21%. That's a total decline of 11%.

That's not the stuff booms are made of.

You need the facts to buttress the strength that I see out there. You didn't get it with these two fine companies.

It's a chink and, given the declines in the stocks, a big one.

The odd fact here? Delta (DAL) and American (AAL) both reported better-than-expected months recently. They are not as well run as Southwest. I liked CSX (CSX) , which reported first, much more than Union Pacific. Again, highly unusual.

All I can say is I am scratching my head about this.

Working on trying to resolve the conflict of good and bad.

Haven't been able to do it yet.

Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.

Action Alerts PLUS, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, has no positions in the stocks mentioned.

TAGS: Investing | U.S. Equity | Transportation | Earnings | Stocks

More from Transportation

Lost in Space: Virgin Galactic Continues to Come Down to Earth

Bruce Kamich
Aug 5, 2022 11:47 AM EDT

A trip to Necker Island may be a better investment here.

No, I'm Not Selling Exxon and Chevron Here

Jim Collins
Aug 4, 2022 2:15 PM EDT

Be careful about drawing a comparison with dry bulk shippers and hydrocarbon names. They're two completely different undertakings.

Uber Delivers a Different Kind of Gap

Bruce Kamich
Aug 2, 2022 12:24 PM EDT

Where UBER closes in the range Tuesday is important information.

Here's Why I'm Building a Position in Uber

James "Rev Shark" DePorre
Aug 2, 2022 11:20 AM EDT

I'm encouraged by better stock picking Tuesday.

Tesla Gains Traction as It Drives Out of Earnings Report

Bruce Kamich
Jul 21, 2022 12:16 PM EDT

Here's the next destination for investors, according to the charts.

Real Money's message boards are strictly for the open exchange of investment ideas among registered users. Any discussions or subjects off that topic or that do not promote this goal will be removed at the discretion of the site's moderators. Abusive, insensitive or threatening comments will not be tolerated and will be deleted. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have questions, please contact us here.

Email

CANCEL
SUBMIT

Email sent

Thank you, your email to has been sent successfully.

DONE

Oops!

We're sorry. There was a problem trying to send your email to .
Please contact customer support to let us know.

DONE

Please Join or Log In to Email Our Authors.

Email Real Money's Wall Street Pros for further analysis and insight

Already a Subscriber? Login

Columnist Conversation

  • 02:23 PM EDT STEPHEN GUILFOYLE

    We're Cleaning Out This Retailer From the Bullpen

    Check out the latest moves in TheStreet's Stocks U...
  • 10:24 AM EDT JAMES "REV SHARK" DEPORRE

    This Weekend on Real Money

    To Improve Your Trading and Investing, Spend More ...
  • 08:44 AM EDT PETER TCHIR

    CPI Beats Expectations, But Maybe Not the 'Whisper'?

    Slightly better-than-expected inflation across the...
  • See More

COLUMNIST TWEETS

  • A Twitter List by realmoney
About Privacy Terms of Use

© 1996-2022 TheStreet, Inc., 225 Liberty Street, 27th Floor, New York, NY 10281

Need Help? Contact Customer Service

Except as otherwise indicated, quotes are delayed. Quotes delayed at least 20 minutes for all exchanges. Market Data & Company fundamental data provided by FactSet. Earnings and ratings provided by Zacks. Mutual fund data provided by Valueline. ETF data provided by Lipper. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions Group.

TheStreet Ratings updates stock ratings daily. However, if no rating change occurs, the data on this page does not update. The data does update after 90 days if no rating change occurs within that time period.

FactSet calculates the Market Cap for the basic symbol to include common shares only. Year-to-date mutual fund returns are calculated on a monthly basis by Value Line and posted mid-month.

Compare Brokers

Please Join or Log In to manage and receive alerts.

Follow Real Money's Wall Street Pros to receive real-time investing alerts

Already a Subscriber? Login