Heartland Express Inc (HTLD)

Operating profit margin

		Dec 31, 2024	Sep 30, 2024	Jun 30, 2024	Mar 31, 2024	Dec 31, 2023	Sep 30, 2023	Jun 30, 2023	Mar 31, 2023	Dec 31, 2022	Sep 30, 2022	Jun 30, 2022	Mar 31, 2022	Dec 31, 2021	Sep 30, 2021	Jun 30, 2021	Mar 31, 2021	Dec 31, 2020	Sep 30, 2020	Jun 30, 2020	Mar 31, 2020
Operating income (ttm)	US$ in thousands	-21,270	-36,801	-37,102	-20,013	17,171	57,846	100,028	188,853	188,358	188,696	187,227	109,523	105,407	102,668	96,734	94,372	93,419	87,316	86,716	90,757
Revenue (ttm)	US$ in thousands	1,047,511	1,080,282	1,115,447	1,146,862	1,207,458	1,287,034	1,265,984	1,147,636	967,995	761,214	639,850	606,157	607,284	614,931	624,601	631,346	645,262	656,699	642,325	623,596
Operating profit margin		-2.03%	-3.41%	-3.33%	-1.75%	1.42%	4.49%	7.90%	16.46%	19.46%	24.79%	29.26%	18.07%	17.36%	16.70%	15.49%	14.95%	14.48%	13.30%	13.50%	14.55%

December 31, 2024 calculation

Operating profit margin = Operating income (ttm) ÷ Revenue (ttm)
= $-21,270K ÷ $1,047,511K
= -2.03%

Heartland Express Inc's operating profit margin has experienced fluctuations over the period from March 31, 2020, to December 31, 2024. The operating profit margin started at 14.55% in March 2020 and showed a generally increasing trend, reaching a peak of 29.26% in June 2022. This upward trend indicated improvement in the company's ability to generate profits from its core operations.

However, the operating profit margin began to decline sharply after June 2022, dropping to 7.90% in June 2023 and further decreasing to negative values in the following periods. This significant decrease suggests challenges faced by the company in maintaining profitability, potentially due to factors such as increased operating expenses, lower sales prices, or other operational issues.

The negative operating profit margins recorded in the last few quarters, reaching a low of -3.41% in September 30, 2024, indicate that Heartland Express Inc's operational profitability has turned negative. This negative trend raises concerns about the company's ability to cover its operating costs and indicates potential financial difficulties that may require management's attention and strategic intervention to reverse the declining profitability trend.