Fundamental analysis: ArcBest Corporation (ARCB)

Awarener score: 8.2

Conclusion

The higher the Awarener score, the more bang you get for the buck. It measures how much genuine funds the company generates for the stock price paid (Very good), the business stability (Modest) and growth (Good), and the company's inclination to return cash to the stockholders (Superb).

Note: All scores range from 1 (worst) to 10 (best). Conclusions are updated daily with closing stock prices and new reported quarterly financial statements.

Revenue score: 6.0

Business has been growing at a good pace. It's been more than average in relation to peer companies.
ArcBest Corporation business trend isn't so stable. The higher the stability, the lower the risk. It looks worse than most rivals.

Margins score: 5.0

ARCB profit margins -on goods and services sold- are usually extremely poor. They stand mediocre against rival companies.
Business profit on sales tends to be sufficient. It's below average when measured against competitors.
Profits on sales made -available to repay debt and purchase properties- are usually hardly sufficient. They remain in a very weak position compared to peers.
Earnings -before income taxes and interests on loans taken- tend to be hardly sufficient in relation to total revenues. They're still somewhat worse than similar companies.
Profits -before income taxes- are usually sufficient considering total sales, and remain weak when measured against rivals.
Total net profit tends to be sufficient when confronted to sales. Company stands below average when measured against comparable firms.

Growth score: 8.6

ArcBest Corporation profit -on goods and services sold- has been growing at an excellent pace. It's been impressive in relation to competitors.
In recent years, earnings -on operations- have been growing at a good step, which has been somewhat better than comparable firms.
Profits -available to repay debt and purchase properties- have been growing at a very good pace, which compares great when measured against peer enterprises.
Earnings -before income taxes and interests on loans taken- have been growing at an excellent tempo. It turns to be a slight improvement compared to similar stocks.
In past years, profits -before income taxes- grew at an excellent speed. It was better than most rivals.
In the previous years, growth trend on total net profit has been excellent, and great when measured against peer companies.
Earnings per share have grown at an excellent rhythm in past years. It's been excellent in relation to industry peers.

Miscellaneous score: 4.0

ARCB had to pay substantial income taxes in relation to profits made in the past years. It's been slightly worse than peers.
The company does not report R&D expenses. It's meaningless to measure in relation to competitors.
We have insufficient data to estimate how effective is research and development effort. It stands unknown against rival companies.

Profitability score: 8.5

ArcBest Corporation usually gets excellent returns on the resources it controls. It proves similar to peer firms.
The company normally gets very good proceeds -on the resources directly invested in the business-. They remain rather normal in relation to similar companies.
There's usually excellent profitability -in relation to owned resources-. It ranks almost average when measured against competitors.
In the past, got very good returns -on the tangible resources it controls-. This metric is usually related to the industry in which operates and combines profitability versus reinvestment needs. It's similar to comparable enterprises.

Usage of Funds score: 7.1

ARCB usually uses a significant portion of genuine funds generated to buy or replace property, plant, or equipment. The need for reinvestments is abundant. It stands similar to rival firms.
The company is usually replacing most of the property, plant, and equipment that gets old, and saving a little funds for something else, which is substantially worse when measured against industry peers.
In the past twelve months it paid low dividends, considering the current stock price. It came mediocre against competitors.
Has increased dividend payments in the past years. Business prospects may have improved. The company has behaved in a very weak position compared to similar firms.
Dividend payments usually represent a slight portion of genuine funds generation and are most likely safe. Sustainability looks top-notch against comparable companies.
The company usually significantly reduces the pool of investors, resulting in fewer mouths feeding on the pie of profits. It remains excellent in relation to peer enterprises.
Repurchase effectiveness metric is very complex. Run again in analytical mode if you're interested in a technical explanation. It stands impressive in relation to rivals.
The company uses a low portion of genuine fund generation to reward investors, which can most likely be sustained. It still looks encouraging in relation to competitors.

Balance Sheet score: 6.4

ArcBest Corporation intangible assets (like brands and goodwill) represent some portion of resources controlled, according to accounting books. There could be some difficulties in liquidating them if the company ever gets in financial distress. It happens to be substantially worse when measured against peer companies.
The company has somewhat more short-term resources than short-term obligations. Liquidity concerns might not be that important. It turns to be in a very weak position compared to similar firms.
Roughly a quarter of resources controlled were provided for with financial debt. Creditors have some claims on the company. It remains somewhat worse than rival firms.
Controlled resources can be made into cash within reason, which is quite good for liquidity. It looks similar to rivals.
For every dollar of short-term obligations, the company has enough dollars in cash and short-term receivables. It's in a weak position compared to peer firms.
For every dollar of short-term obligations, the company has almost another of cash and equivalents, which is slightly worse than similar enterprises.
Usually, sales are on a month credit. It still ranks similar to peers.
Normally has no inventories. It comes up as impressive in relation to competitors.
On average, it takes approximately two months from the purchase to charging customers. It happens to be somewhat better than peers.
On average pays suppliers before a month since the purchase. It ranks great when measured against industry peers.
The company pays its suppliers less than one month before charging its customers, so there's little money invested in working capital. It's excellent in relation to similar companies.
Net interest expenses consume a non-significant portion of usual business earnings, and are therefore extremely easily to bear. It stands better than most rival firms.
Business earnings have usually been very good when measured against loans taken. Cutting back reinvesting in the business, it could take less than two years to repay the obligations with current profitability. It ranks similar to comparable enterprises.
Revenues are reasonable in relation to property, plant, and equipment required to operate. This metric is likely dependent on the industry the company operates in. The more property, plant, and equipment used, the more the company must reinvest to fight obsolescence, which usually means less available funds for the shareholders in the long run. It looks impressive in relation to similar firms.
Resource exploitation is huge considering yearly sales, which is great. This metric is normally tied to the industry where the firm belongs. It's still better than most peer companies.

Valuation score: 7.7

ArcBest Corporation looks cheap in relation to profits and financial position. It happens to be encouraging in relation to competitors.
Price-to-Tangible-Book-Value is a fairly complex metric. Run again in analytical mode if you're interested in a technical explanation. It remains lacking compared to peers.
In the past twelve months, the company generated some good free funds in relation to the stock price, which stands somewhat better than similar companies.
The company usually generates much more genuine funds to cover up for its business needs. Surplus cash may be used to repay loans, to eventually buy new businesses, or to reward investors. Considering the financial position and stock price, at the current price the share might be very interesting. It's still more than average in relation to industry firms.
In the past twelve months, the company has significantly rewarded investors, considering both dividends and share on the pie of earnings. It came up excellent in relation to peer ventures.
The company has barely more debt than cash. It may borrow extra money if it wishes so, or start cumulating cash for future uses. It looks slightly worse than similar enterprises.
Considering the past twelve months, traditional Price-to-Earnings relation looks cheap. Possible reasons are that the market might be betting current earnings will be hard to sustain through time, or that the company has very high fund needs, or a weak financial position, among others. If that isn't the case, the current stock price might be attractive. It ranks similar to peer companies.
Comparing the current stock price with the past twelve-months revenues gives a low relationship. One common cause includes profitability being poor. It looks rather normal in relation to rival firms.
The relation between the stock price and accounting book value is somewhat high. It's important both to check this metric through time and to compare it with rival companies. The company remains somewhat worse than peer firms.
In the past twelve months, the operating business earned great money when compared to the current stock price and financial position. It happens to be great when measured against industry peers.
In an alternate metric of bang for the buck, the company has usually shown a very good earnings power ability when measured against the current stock price and financial position. It's still a slight improvement compared to peer companies.

Total score: 6.7

Company at a glance: ArcBest Corporation (ARCB)

Sector, industry: Industrials, Trucking

Market Cap: 2.08 billions

Revenues TTM: 5.10 billions

ArcBest Corporation provides freight transportation and integrated logistics services. It operates through three segments: Asset-Based, ArcBest, and FleetNet. The Asset-Based segment transports general commodities, such as food, textiles, apparel, furniture, appliances, chemicals, nonbulk petroleum products, rubber, plastics, metal and metal products, wood, glass, automotive parts, machinery, and miscellaneous manufactured products through less-than-truckload services. It also offers motor carrier freight transportation services to customers in Mexico through arrangements with trucking companies. The ArcBest segment provides expedite freight transportation services to commercial and government customers; premium logistics services, such as deployment of specialized equipment to meet linehaul requirements; and international freight transportation with air, ocean, and ground services. It also offers third-party transportation brokerage services by sourcing various capacity solutions, including dry van over the road and intermodal, temperature-controlled and refrigerated, flatbed, intermodal or container shipping, and specialized equipment; full-container and less-than-container load ocean transportation services; warehousing and distribution services; managed transportation services; and moving services to do-it-yourself' consumer, as well as provides final mile, time critical, product launch, warehousing, retail logistics, supply chain optimization, and trade show shipping services. The FleetNet segment provides roadside repair solutions and vehicle maintenance management services for commercial and private fleets through a network of third-party service providers. The company was formerly known as Arkansas Best Corporation and changed its name to ArcBest Corporation in May 2014. ArcBest Corporation was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.