Shares of United Parcel Service Inc. UPS sank 1.1% in premarket trading Tuesday, after the package delivery giant reported fourth-quarter profit that topped expectations but revenue that surprisingly declined, and provided a downbeat full-year outlook. Net income rose to $3.45 billion, or $3.96 a share, from $3.09 billion, or $3.52 a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding nonrecurring items, adjusted earnings per share of $3.62 beat the FactSet consensus of $3.59. Revenue fell 2.7% to $27.03 billion from $27.77 billion, while the FactSet consensus was for an increase to $28.08 billion. Among UPS’s business segments, U.S. revenue rose 3.1% to $18.25 billion, below the FactSet consensus of $18.46 billion, International revenue dropped 8.3% to $4.95 billion to miss expectations of $5.37 billion and supply chain revenue slumped 18.1% to miss expectations of $4.24 billion. Looking ahead, the company expects revenue of between $97.0 billion and $99.4 billion, which is below the FactSet consensus of $99.89 billion. The stock has gained 5.5% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT has advanced 4.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has tacked on 3.0%.
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