Rush Enterprises reports Q3 EPS 97c, two estimates 82c

Reports Q3 revenue $1.90B, two estimates $1.84B. “As we have experienced for the last several quarters, the industry continues to struggle with low freight rates and high interest rates, resulting in continued weak demand for Class 8 trucks. Considering these ongoing challenges, we are pleased with our overall financial performance in the third quarter,” said W.M. “Rusty” Rush, CEO “Although sluggish industry conditions continue to negatively impact over-the-road-carriers, we saw positive results in the quarter with respect to our Class 8 vocational and public sector customers. In addition, demand from our medium-duty customers remained healthy throughout the quarter, enabling us to outperform the market. While the used truck market remains difficult, our used truck operations are executing well, managing inventory levels to market conditions while also making strong contributions to our earnings,” he continued. “In the aftermarket, we saw a slight improvement in our revenue compared to our second quarter results, particularly with respect to our service sales, which outperformed the market. Looking toward the remainder of the year and the beginning of 2025, although we believe freight rates have found their bottom, we do not anticipate any significant recovery in new Class 8 truck sales until sometime later in 2025. We will continue to rely on the talents of our professional sales force to uncover opportunities to leverage our “One Team” sales approach and fight for market share growth. Despite the tough industry conditions, we expect that our Class 8 and Class 4-7 new commercial vehicle sales will improve in the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter,” explained Rush. “Although we expect a typical seasonal decline in our fourth quarter aftermarket results, we believe market conditions will begin to slowly improve during the first quarter of 2025.”