What Happened?
Shares of leasing services company GATX (NYSE:GATX) jumped 6.5% in the afternoon session after the company reported strong fourth-quarter results, surpassing Wall Street's expectations for revenue and EPS, driven by robust demand for railcars. Looking ahead, GATX's full-year EPS guidance also exceeded analysts' expectations. Overall, we think this quarter was impressive.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $161.71, up 4.7% from previous close.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
GATX’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 3 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 8% on the news that the company reported a "beat and raise" quarter, with revenue and EPS exceeding analysts' expectations. Looking ahead, the company provided full-year revenue guidance that outperformed Wall Street's estimates and raised its full-year EPS guidance. Notably, demand for railcars remained strong, with North America's fleet utilization at 99.3% and the renewal success rate above 80%. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives.
GATX is up 6.4% since the beginning of the year, and at $161.71 per share, it is trading close to its 52-week high of $165.82 from November 2024. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of GATX’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,964.
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