FedEx Corporation (FDX) reported their third quarter earnings after the market closed for trading on Tuesday March 20th, 2018. At first, it seemed as though Wall Street loved the numbers and shares catapulted higher. However After shooting up about 10 points to the $262 level, shares began to fall abruptly and actually went below the closing price in the regular trading session.

Ultimately the shares did  an about-face from the move up to a solid move down and wound up closing at $247.50 which was down 1.78% or down -$4.49. During the regular trading session however, shares had a solid session with an increase in volume over the last 30 days and closed up $2.38 or nearly 1%.

The company announced earnings of $3.72 per share versus analyst estimates which had come in at $3.11 per share. These numbers are the raw data after one-time expenses were removed. The company did admit that sales were hurt buy inclement weather and certain expenses related to the holiday season.

Company Comments

Frederick W. Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman and chief executive officer had this to say on the Conference Call:

“Execution of our long-term growth strategies, customer demand for the unique value of our broad portfolio of solutions and healthy growth in the global economy are driving our performance.We expect strong operating performance in each of our transportation segments in the fourth quarter.”

Alan B. Graf, Jr., FedEx Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer added:

“We are increasing our fiscal 2018 earnings outlook due to foreign tax benefits from our international corporate structure, the benefits from U.S. tax reform and improved operating performance. We remain committed to improving operating income at the FedEx Express segment by $1.2 to $1.5 billion in fiscal 2020 versus fiscal 2017.”

The Charts

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The above price chart shows FedEx going back nearly 10 months on The Daily time frame. The green trend line is a support area that price has shown respect for on numerous occasions in the past. Even after the sell off in the after-hours session, it appears that shares will open in the red oval area which still is somewhat higher than the green support line. This tends to be a bullish signal.

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The above price chart shows FedEx on the 5-minute chart in the after-hours session on the right. It is easy to see that exactly when earnings were announced the shares rocketed higher. They then reached a topping formation and began an equal and extended move lower. Many eyes will be on this stock in the morning when the opens for trading on the New York Stock Exchange to see if price will stay above long-term support or fall below.