Shares of ZTO Express Inc. (ZTO) tumbled 6.25% in pre-market trading on Thursday following the release of its fourth-quarter earnings report for 2024. The Chinese logistics giant failed to meet analysts' expectations, despite posting year-over-year growth in both earnings and revenue.
ZTO reported adjusted earnings of 2.90 yuan per share for the quarter ended December 31, falling short of the mean expectation of 3.33 yuan per share from four analysts. While this represents an increase from the 2.66 yuan per share reported in the same quarter last year, it wasn't enough to satisfy market expectations. The company's revenue, however, showed strong growth, rising 21.7% to 12.92 billion yuan, surpassing analysts' projections of 11.76 billion yuan.
The earnings miss appears to have overshadowed the company's revenue beat and overall growth, leading to the significant pre-market sell-off. Despite this setback, it's worth noting that ZTO Express shares had risen by 11.3% over the quarter prior to this report. The current average analyst rating on the stock remains "buy," with 18 out of 20 analysts recommending either "strong buy" or "buy." This suggests that while investors are reacting negatively to the earnings miss in the short term, the long-term outlook for ZTO Express may still be positive in the eyes of many analysts.
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