By Katherine Hamilton

C.H. Robinson Worldwide profit jumped for the third consecutive quarter as its chief executive's efficiency-focused strategy keeps the company afloat amid an industry-wide recession.

The freight brokerage company, which specializes in transportation, on Wednesday posted a profit of $149.3 million, or $1.22 a share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with $31 million, or 26 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell just under 1% to $4.18 billion. Analysts surveyed by FactSet forecast revenue of $4.44 billion.

The fourth-quarter earnings follow two consecutive quarters of rising profits as the Eden Prairie, Minn.-based company aims to recover from an ongoing recession in the freight industry.

C.H. Robinson's stock has gained about 30% over the past year after a rocky period amid the freight recession. The recession continued to keep market growth from materializing in 2024 as much as the company projected, Chief Executive Dave Bozeman said. He attributed the rise in profit to his lean strategy focused on increasing efficiency.

The company said Wednesday its forwarding team reduced its average headcount for the year by more than 10%. Compounded productivity has grown 30% over the past two years and is expected to continue to grow, Bozeman said. At an Investor Day event in December, C.H. Robinson executives said its use of artificial intelligence is saving 250 hours to 500 hours on manual order processing a day.

C.H. Robinson is also using dynamic pricing and revenue management to keep customer prices low despite the rising cost of purchased transportation in trucking during the fourth quarter, Bozeman said Wednesday.

"We view our productivity as evergreen improvements that we do not expect to give back," he said.

Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com

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January 29, 2025 16:43 ET (21:43 GMT)

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