FedEx stock falls nearly 7% amid ongoing business challenges

On Tuesday, the company reported net income of $660 million for the three months ending November 30, down nearly 40% from the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell to $17.3 billion from $17.8 billion over that time.

Shares in FedEx (FDX) dropped nearly 7% in after-hours trading Tuesday following the earnings release.

"We are at the bottom," Chief Financial Officer Alan Graff Jr. said in a call with Wall Street analysts Tuesday. "Our adjusted operating profit year-over-year is horrific, but it's going to improve in Q3 and even more in Q4, compared to the prior year. ... We're going to come up off the mat and improve through the course of this year and into the next."

The shipping company has been battling a number of challenges over the last several quarters — namely global trade disputes that cut down on FedEx's international shipping business and the loss of major customer Amazon (AMZN).

Revenue in the quarter was also hurt by the later-than-usual Thanksgiving holiday, which pushed the Cyber Week shopping period out of the quarter. Income was also hit by costs associated with FedEx's effort to launch and grow Saturday and Sunday shipping services.

Amazon sellers can't use FedEx Ground for Prime shipments

But the challenge from Amazon isn't going away yet. The Wall Street Journal reported that Amazon would longer allow its third-party sellers to ship Prime packages via FedEx, citing performance deficiencies.

FedEx executives said on Tuesday's earnings call that non-Amazon shipping business is growing and that expanding to seven-day shipping should help results in coming quarters. The company has long delivered on Sundays during peak holiday seasons, but starting in January it will keep seven-day ground delivery services going year-round in most of the United States.

CEO Frederick Smith said the company has seen an "unbelievable response" from customers to the growth of six- and seven-day shipping services.

Still, investors may be hard to convince. One analyst on the call Tuesday asked why the company hadn't considered drastic cost-cutting measures, such as laying off employees.

Smith replied that he's confident the company can turn around, and wants to have all its resources available when it does.

"We are disappointed with our current results but we are optimistic," Smith said.

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