CVLG

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Aug. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. (NYSE: CVLG) (“Covenant” or the “Company”) announced today that its board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per share of Class A and Class B common stock. The quarterly cash dividend is payable to stockholders of record on September 4, 2026, and is expected to be paid on September 25, 2026. The quarterly cash dividend is pursuant to a cash dividend program previously approved by the Company’s board of directors. The actual declaration of future cash dividends, and the establishment of record and payment dates is subject to final determination by the board of directors each quarter. About CovenantCovenant Logistics Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers a portfolio of transportation and logistics services to customers throughout the United States. Primary services include asset- based expedited and dedicated truckload capacity, as well as asset-light warehousing, transportation management, and freight brokerage capability. In addition, Transport Enterprise Leasing is an affiliated company providing revenue equipment sales and leasing services to the trucking industry. Covenant's Class A common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol, “CVLG.” This press release contains certain statements that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical or current fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements relating to our declaration of quarterly dividends. Forward-looking statements are based on the current beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of management and current market conditions. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that future dividends will be declared. The declaration of future dividends is subject to approval of our board of directors and various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: our cash flow and cash needs; compliance with applicable law; restrictions on the payment of dividends under existing or future financing arrangements; changes in tax laws relating to corporate dividends; deterioration in our financial condition or results, and those risks, uncertainties, and other factors identified from time-to-time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers should review and consider the factors that may affect future results and other disclosures in the Risk Factors sections of Covenant Logistics Group, Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 and various disclosures in our press releases, stockholder reports, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein. For further information contact: Paul Bunn, [email protected] Tripp Grant, Chief Financial [email protected] For copies of Company information contact: Brooke McKenzie, Executive Administrative Assistant                                                [email protected]

Since August 2021, the S&P 500 has delivered a total return of 73.7%. But one standout stock has more than doubled the market - over the past five years, Covenant Logistics has surged 201% to $33.37 per share. Its momentum hasn’t stopped as it’s also gained 18.8% in the last six months, beating the S&P by 5.4%. Is there a buying opportunity in Covenant Logistics, or does it present a risk to your portfolio? Dive into our full research report to see our analyst team’s opinion, it’s free. We’re glad investors have benefited from the price increase, but we don’t have much confidence in Covenant Logistics. Here are three reasons why CVLG doesn’t excite us, plus one stock we’d rather own. A company’s long-term sales performance can indicate its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Unfortunately, Covenant Logistics’s 6.2% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was mediocre. This fell short of our benchmark for the industrials sector. Analyzing the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) shows whether a company’s incremental sales were profitable — for example, revenue could be inflated through excessive spending on advertising and promotions. Covenant Logistics’s EPS grew at a weak 1.2% compounded annual growth rate over the last five years, lower than its 6.2% annualized revenue growth. This tells us the company became less profitable on a per-share basis as it expanded. A company’s ROIC, or return on invested capital, shows how much operating profit it makes compared to the money it has raised (debt and equity). Unfortunately, Covenant Logistics’s ROIC has decreased significantly over the last few years. Paired with its already low returns, these declines suggest its profitable growth opportunities are few and far between. Covenant Logistics falls short of our quality standards. With its shares topping the market in recent months, the stock trades at 14.7× forward P/E (or $33.37 per share). While this valuation is fair, the upside isn’t great compared to the potential downside. There are better investments elsewhere. We’d suggest looking at the Amazon and PayPal of Latin America. ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively. Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+214% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 10 a.m. ET Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - David R. Parker President - Paul Bunn Chief Operating Officer - Dustin Koehl Chief Financial Officer - James Grant Operator: Welcome to today's Covenant Logistics Group Second Quarter Earnings Release and Investor Conference Call. Our host for today's call is Tripp Grant. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to your host. Mr. Grant, you may begin. James Grant: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Covenant Logistics Group Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. As a reminder, this call will contain forward-looking statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Please review our SEC filings and most recent risk factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. Our prepared comments and additional financial information are available on our website at [www.covenantlogistics.com/investors](https://www.covenantlogistics.com/investors). Joining me today are CEO, David Parker; President, Paul Bunn; and COO, Dustin Koehl. Before we dive into the quarterly numbers, I want to take a step back and connect a few dots regarding the freight recovery we are now seeing. 10 years ago, Covenant looked very different. We're almost entirely an irregular route carrier without multiple-year committed customer contracts. That meant our financial results were significantly linked to the ups and downs of the volatile freight cycle, making it difficult for investors to understand the long-term value proposition of our business. To fix that, we launched a strategy to deeply embed ourselves in our customer supply chains. We began moving away from a highly volatile, commoditized business, intentionally invested in more specialized value-added businesses, such as dedicated and warehousing, which require multiyear committed relationships. These businesses have performed well and crucially lowered the volatility of our business. We aren't finished, but we are well on our way. Today, we have much less exposure to the extreme swings of the market. We saw the proof of this from 2023 through 2025. When the market bottomed, our margins held up much better than our peer group average and our own historical results. As a result, our stock outperformed. As we look ahead, we expect this strategy to keep delivering. Over the next few quarters, we are focused on 3 execution priorities. First, we are transitioning expiring contracts into new long-term commitments. Second, we are moving more of our uncommitted capacity into committed revenue. And third, over time, we expect managed freight gross margin to return to normal levels as contract rates catch up to capacity costs. Given our levels of contractual capacity, our operating margins won't spike as fast or as high as peers who have mostly uncommitted capacity. But the flip side is exactly why we built this model. When the market turns down again, our margins should be more stable because we have proven our long-term value to customers. During the last cycle, we proved we could raise the floor on our earnings. In this cycle, our goal is to raise the ceiling while establishing an even higher floor. Based on an extended cycle of tight industry driver capacity and strong execution, we believe we can significantly expand our operating margin. We expect steady improvements, not a hockey stick. This is where we have been heading for a decade, and we are confident in our path forward. With that background, I will move on to the quarter's statistical review. Highlights for the quarter include: while rates and revenue quality improved in the quarter, elevated costs more than offset any improvements to operating margin. Consolidated freight revenue increased by 6.6% or approximately $18.2 million to $294.7 million, primarily as a result of the brokerage assets acquired in the fourth quarter of 2025 that are now being operated as STAR Logistics Solutions within our Managed Freight segment, partially offset by approximately 3% less freight revenue from our combined truckload operations as a result of fleet reductions. Consolidated adjusted operating income shrank by 19% to $12.2 million. The largest contributor was lower gross margin in managed freight. Dedicated Truckload improved its results, and all others declined slightly. Adjusted net income declined by 9.8% as a result of the combination of higher pretax earnings from our minority investment in TEL, combined with a favorable tax rate as a result of infrequent discrete items impacting our income tax provision, partially overcoming lower operating income. Our net indebtedness as of June 30 decreased by approximately $6.6 million to $289.7 million compared to December 31, 2025, yielding an adjusted leverage ratio of approximately 2.2x and debt-to-capital ratio of 41.2%. The reduction in net indebtedness in the first half of the year was in line with our expectations. Cash proceeds from operations for the period were impacted by acquisition-related earn-out payments, insurance policy renewals, and large claim settlement payments. For the second half of the year, we anticipate our net capital equipment investment to range between $50 million and $60 million depending on the timing of deliveries and the prices for used equipment, operational cash flow to improve, and net indebtedness to reduce modestly. The average age of our tractors at June 30 was 26 months, up from 22 months compared to a year ago. This growth is in line with our life cycle management plan for our asset-based fleet and consistent with year-over-year reductions to our high-mileage expedited fleet. On an adjusted basis, return on invested capital was 5.2% for the trailing 4 quarters versus 7% for the same period in the prior year. Now providing a little more color on the performance of the individual business segments. The Expedited segment reported an adjusted operating ratio of 94.6%, approximately 70 basis points above the prior year quarter. The segment's profitability improved sequentially from the first quarter by 450 basis points, but still fell short of our expectations for the quarter. Over the past 12 months, this segment has undertaken a considerable amount of transition. While the fleet was reduced by 17%, freight revenue per average tractor has improved by 6.8%. Our focus on growing our customer base with high-value cargo through multiyear committed capacity agreements has resulted in improved freight revenue per total mile but has been partially offset by a reduction in miles per average tractor for the period. Elevated insurance-related claims costs also impacted this segment unfavorably in the quarter. As we work to convert the segment to serving more committed capacity freight under multiyear agreements, we are confident that profitability will improve to a level that meets our expectations. Going forward, we have line of sight to steady sequential improvement in this segment's profitability throughout the year. Over time, our goal is to average a double-digit adjusted operating margin across the freight cycle to generate an acceptable return on capital. Dedicated's adjusted operating ratio of 95% was in line with the prior year quarter. Freight revenue per average tractor for the period improved by 8.6%. Cost headwinds in the quarter, including maintenance and insurance-related claims, offset improved freight revenue in this segment. Going forward, our goal is to steadily restore adjusted operating margin to double digits, grow the fleet serving high service niches, improve profitability with certain legacy customers as contracts renew and, if applicable, reduce any part of the fleet that is not adequately returning capital in line with our expectations. Managed Freight grew freight revenue 28.4% compared to the prior year, primarily as a result of the brokerage assets acquired in the fourth quarter of 2025. However, the segment's operating margin in the quarter lagged our longer-term expectations as a result of rising costs to secure quality brokerage capacity, outpacing our ability to secure contractual rate increases from customers. This type of margin compression is normal for an early up cycle. As we look ahead, our goal is to improve upon these results with the understanding that cost pressure may remain elevated as carrier capacity may be constrained for some time and higher insurance and claims expense has become a greater risk after the Supreme Court's recent Montgomery decision. The Warehouse segment performed in line with our revenue expectations, but disappointed us by failing to improve margins sequentially as a result of a continuation of labor inefficiencies with a new customer. Looking ahead, we remain committed to driving organic growth within this segment and are focused on enhancing our adjusted operating margin with a target of reaching high single digits. Our minority investment in TEL contributed pretax net income of $5.3 million for the quarter compared to $4.3 million in the prior year period. While pleased with these improved results, much of it is attributable to higher equipment sale gains, which we do not anticipate benefiting from in the third quarter. Regarding our outlook for the future. The second quarter marked a positive inflection point for the freight economy following a prolonged downturn, reinforcing our view that 2026 is a transition year for the industry. While elevated costs pressured our profitability in the quarter, we were encouraged by the pace of revenue improvements this early into the up cycle. Through the remainder of the year, we intend to build on this progress by improving the quality and durability of our customer relationships and maintaining disciplined cost controls, resulting in improved operating margin and earnings over time. Although the pace of improvement may be more measured than that of certain peers, we believe the durability of our model and the continued execution of our strategy position us well for long-term performance that meets or exceeds our shareholder expectations. Thank you for your time, and we will now open the call for any questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And our first question comes from Reed Sah from Stephens Inc. Unknown Analyst: I wanted to start by following up on some of the maintenance and insurance costs that you called out. It seems like mostly one-time in nature. If you could give us a little more color on how much was in Expedited versus how much was in dedicated. And the insurance does seem to be a pretty prolific problem in the industry. But I was wondering if you could give a little more color on what's behind some of the increased maintenance costs here in the second quarter. M. Bunn: Yes, Reed, this is Paul. Let me start with the insurance. And I would tell you, probably just from an OR point perspective, Dedicated and Expedited both there's probably 1.5 to 2 OR points of excess insurance over our run rate for the last 24 months. A couple of things are we just had a number of mediations pop up in the second quarter. And as you know, in this litigious environment, if you can get a mediation and get it settled and get it off the books, that's what you do. We probably had more mediations in the second quarter than we've had in a number of quarters, and several mediations on some claims that none of them were monster claims, but it didn't take much for a claim to be a 7-figure claim anymore. So I would just say a heightened number of mediations that just happened to get scheduled in the second quarter, and we had the opportunity to close a lot of those out at numbers that we were comfortable closing them out with. And so it was a volume gain. The other is when you start taking those higher costs in a period when the truck counts come down a little bit, it just exacerbates it. Again, it's about 1.5 to 2 OR points on Dedicated and Expedited was the negative impact over what we view as a normalized run rate. I would say on the dedicated side of things and to a lesser degree, expedited, we just had some maintenance costs in getting some equipment ready for sales, maintenance costs in some of the protein-based businesses that, again, were just higher than our normal run rate. Some of those could have been deferred and maybe were Q4, Q1 things. And so that's probably at least 1 OR point on the dedicated side of increased expenses. So if you normalize for those, we feel a lot better about the results, and we don't expect those to be fully recurring. Unknown Analyst: It does feel like those are one-time in nature, which seems like they are. Looking to 3Q, we should have some pretty solid improvement in margins. How should we think about that as we look at modeling 3Q? And then you all are, as you talked about in your prepared comments, relatively later cycle compared to some of your truckload peers just based off your end markets and the type of business that you serve. How should we think about margin expansion next year when we see a lot of this benefit actually flow through your bottom line? M. Bunn: A couple of things I would say. We feel really comfortable about sequentially and year-over-year improving earnings from 2 to 3 and from 3 last year to 3 this year. Some of what brokerage margins do, just like a lot of our peers, is going to really affect that number. And so I think there's 2 or 3 buckets. I mean, fuel was a helper for the quarter for the whole peer group and us. So what does fuel do? Brokerage margins- what do they do? Everybody across the whole peer group and with us, they were compressed for the second quarter. And then we do expect insurance and maintenance to normalize a little bit. So you take those 3 or 4 puts and takes, we feel like there's going to be more puts than takes in the short term. And I think we'll make more in Q3 than we did in Q2 and more in Q4 than we made in Q3. And if you keep doing that every quarter, the numbers keep stacking; that's what we'll get the numbers everybody is excited about. James Grant: Reed, I'd add just a couple of points about insurance. With the amount of self-insurance that we carry, there's no doubt that it can be volatile from quarter to quarter, and having to forecast that is difficult, but I'll just paint some color around the number that we put up this quarter. For not having a large claim go through that pier or be above insurance, it was a bunch of- I won't call them smaller claims, but a high volume of claims. When that happens, we have a development factor that incurred but not reported or development on self-insurance that also gets reported. So that increased pretty dramatically in the quarter as well. And so by far, this was the highest quarter historically, looking back on it. But going forward, I mean, again, it's an industry issue, and there is a lot of volatility in it, and the trend is not good when you're looking at it. But I would say Q3 is a little bit of an anomaly as you're looking at it based on past performance. The other thing I would paint, just adding color to Paul's pace of improvement, is I think you'll see a little bit of a better pace of improvement in Expedited. It's a little more fluid. Dedicated, I think we're going to just kind of slowly get there and make sure that we're making the right strategic decisions, not just with rate, but customer mix, too, making sure we're working with customers that really need our teams or with our dedicated specialized business and that are going to be with us cycle in and cycle out. So these are strategic decisions that have multiyear sticky contracts, and they take a little while. I think if you went back and looked and saw how our dedicated improved, we were still on a path of improvement well after the cycle ended. And part of that was acquisition, but part of that is certainly in line with our strategy of getting more specialized and working on things that don't fall into the typical freight cycle. So we're focused on the longer term, and we're focused on slow, steady, intentional improvement to both of our segments in Expedited and Dedicated. Unknown Analyst: One quick one left for me, and then I'll pass it on. On the transition that you all talked about, it started late last year, carrying on into this year. How much do we have left to churn out of this business that you're trying to get rid of? Or have we already gotten rid of it all, and we should return back to truck growth here soon? James Grant: On the dedicated side, I think for the most part, you're there. On the expedited side, I think the truck count probably is what it is. What we're in the process of doing right now, Reed, is trying to convert as much of the expedited as makes sense to dedicated teams as opposed to more over-the-road teams. And so I would say that's in process, and we'll see how that shakes out. But on the legacy dedicated side and the protein side, I think we're at the numbers. I could see those growing over time. I think the expedited, we're trying to convert as much of that as we can to dedicated team, and we'll see how that keeps going. Operator: And our next question comes from Jason Seidl from TD Cowen. Elliot Alper: This is Elliot Alper on for Jason. So in your release, you guys talked about having all your asset-based businesses under long-term dedicated contracts by the end of the cycle. I would be curious to hear your thoughts on maybe the length of this cycle and maybe how pricing is trending and how the market continues to evolve from here. It's been a couple of years since you guys have been in the low 90s for OR. I guess, is this going to be a slow and steady, like you suggested, trip? Is this like a multi-year effort? Or could this be something a bit sooner since you're rolling some of these contracts off to books quicker? David Parker: Elliot, this is David. I'd tell you, I would much rather be in the industry we are in, in a position that I think that the world is going to shake. I really do. What I've read from some of you all about some of the analyst write-ups about this long term is this an industry -- what's the word I've been using- industry change, long-term cycle? I really believe it is. I mean, as I look at the backdrop, I don't think the industry, including us, is at first base. And I see a lot of great things that are happening within DOT and FMCSA and everything that they are doing there that is just going to continue to allow this industry to get back to returns that we all want to be at. And so I'm excited about where we are. We got challenges. The industry has got challenges that we've already talked about here, and that insurance being #1 as everybody's insurance expires, ours don't expire until next year. So we're good for another 8 or 10 months before the market, but you still have high deductibles and quarters, and I mean it drives me crazy about how much you pay for insurance and about how much you really have, which would be less than what you think you got on every one of these insurance claims. But the market, the rates got to go up. And the rates are, and the rates will continue to go up because capacity has left and capacity is going to continue to leave. I would tell you that I have seen from first -- because keep in mind, as I'm thinking here, Elliot, guys, we did not -- here it is, November, December, 8 months ago, we all, including everybody on this phone, said, is it turning? Maybe I think it is, first time in 4 years. March was 4 years. Is it turning? We were asking that question. I never forget sitting here in this company last December saying, I think we can go get rate increases. First time the industry has in 4 years. I think we can go get increases. I'm here to tell you, we went out to the market in the middle of December. And for January and the 1st of February, we got 3.4%, and we were high 5. We thought, man, we are doing a job because of the first time in 4 years. Well, by April, 2.5 months later, that 3.4% was that the market was at 7% or 8%, 7% or 8%. Well, you can't go into your January and February customers that just gave you 3.4% and raise them 2 months later. So you've got to let some time go by- say, 6, 8, 10 months go by before you can go back to those customers. But by current July, June and July, that's 7%, 8% was double digits, 10%, 11%, 12%, even higher on certain pieces of the business that are operating. So how quickly the market has moved is a backdrop to where we're at. So that said, I'm happy with where our rate increases are at. If you look at the last 4 years, phenomenal, us in the industry, unbelievable, whatever word you want to use. But I'm here to say that I think it's half of it. I think it's going to continue to climb because we got the costs that I look at those claims we had in the second quarter. The tail on these things is crazy, but that hasn't changed. That's always been there. But every so often, backing the but it's good. In the second quarter. But with the background that the industry is at, I expect great things. I think now, because you asked the question, you read one about growth. When growth, I don't know because a blessing is that it's getting harder for drivers. It's getting harder to get truck drivers. And that's a negative from a standpoint that I could grow some dedicated right now, and we're going to try to figure out how to grow dedicated and get some drivers. It's going to increase driver pay. That's okay. We've got to get it out of the rates. But at the same time, you're not going to see crazy stuff happening because the driver situation is getting more difficult as we speak. So it's going to keep a lid on capacity cause the drivers. It's going to keep a lid on capacity cause the DOT. They are at first base on the ELDs, I'm going to tell you, 30% of ELD users ache it. 30% of ELDs out there running are competing with my teams with a so driver, 30% of them, and it could be greater, but it's a big number on ELDs. And they just hit the ball out of the batter's box. I mean, that thing has got a long run as we take out capacity on that. And then I'm not going to go over all the CDLs and the truck driving training schools and the cab, gigantic, when these trucks are not operating in the United States for 30 days, they're either going up, and they're going back. And they're now starting to measure that. They had to get Homeland Security involved to make sure that they are on top of that. Capacity is leaving. So I say all that, Elliot, when can we grow? I don't know. A thing I know is that I'm going to be a lot more profitable. A thing I know is I'm going to have a lot more earnings coming to the bottom line. The only thing I know is that my retained earnings are going to go up. We're going to recapture a lot of profitability that we've lost, and we're one of the best ones in the market in the last 4 years that you can go back and look at. But there's a lot of earnings that we didn't get, and we're going to go get those earnings. So my thing is not how big can I get, how many white trucks do I want to run? Mine is, how profitable can I get? How can I recapture the less earnings that I had over the last 4 years? And guys, this is 53 years I've been in this, and I couldn't be more excited about what is happening that's going to give us the opportunity. Now, is it going to happen in the second quarter? It didn't. Is it going to happen in the third quarter? No. Fourth quarter, it's going to happen. I've seen some write-ups in the last 6, 8 months. You are saying '27 is going to be a blowout year. I think there's going to be obstacles in '27, but I think it's going to be a very good year. I do. I think you are correct on that in your thoughts. It isn't going to happen in the second quarter or the third quarter. We're going to continue to make progress. You're going to see it in the next 2 quarters. You're going to see it in '27. You're going to see it in '28. I mean, I think this is a long-term 3- or 4-year super cycle is the word I was looking for, super cycle, and I believe that it is. Anyway, Jason, I'll shut up. Elliot Alper: And then maybe, you talked about adding some new ag protein business, exiting some nonspecialized contracts. Can you talk about like the pipeline for Dedicated? I guess, like how are customers thinking about the dedicated offering in light of the Montgomery ruling? I mean it should improve your product offering as more shippers look to high-quality asset-based carriers. But curious about your thoughts on whether you're starting to see that pipeline expand. James Grant: Pipeline is the best it's ever been, period. You agree, Paul. Best pipeline we've ever had on Dedicated, the best opportunities. We do. We have customers right now that are wanting to grow Dedicated. Yes, it's exciting. Again, we all got to make sure we got drivers, but there's going to be a lot of opportunities in dedicated. So yes, what you are sensing or feeling or believing is happening. M. Bunn: And Elliot, this is even bleeding over. Paul mentioned it a little bit, but I want to make sure that it's stated that it's even bleeding over into some of our expedited fleet as we lock up multiyear committed capacity with high-value freight that's serving the industrial, heavy industrial data type center work. And those trucks are really, really running, and there's a good pipeline on that, too. Operator: And our next question comes from Jeff Kauffman from Citizens Bank. Jeffrey Kauffman: So David, thank you for that fantastic answer to the previous question. I've got a more boring question. It won't be as much of a passion point. So there was guidance in the release on $50 million to $60 million in net CapEx spend in the second half. You talked in the release about not shrinking the fleet anymore at this point. But with what is starting to happen in the industry, free cash is eventually going to start to build. As we think about maybe moving beyond '26 and getting into '27 and beyond, I know the average fleet age is up, and Tripp mentioned that was part of the plan. But is there a CapEx investment that needs to occur as free cash comes along? Do we want to get debt down to a certain level? I don't want to spend it before you earn it, but how are we thinking about free cash and capital deployment as we see the super cycle that David was just talking about? James Grant: Yes, Jeff, I can take that. If you look back in the past few years, our net CapEx has been a little bit clunky for a couple of reasons. We were in a post-COVID recovery where we were recovering from a period of time where we couldn't buy any capital equipment and were trying to replace some really, really old stuff. Then we acquired Lew Thompson, which requires certain specialized trailers and certain spec tractors, and we couldn't just use what we had. And so we were growing that fleet pretty materially and keeping some of the other stuff flat. And so there's some growth in CapEx and specialized stuff and some offset by some reductions in nonspecialized stuff. So it's been elevated, I would say, for the last few years. This year in total, I think it's going to be a little bit below our normal capital replacement cycle for a couple of reasons. One, we entered the year in really, really good shape. Two, the mix of our freight is changing, becoming more low-mile dedicated type stuff that has a longer replacement cycle and fewer expedited tractors that are putting 180,000 miles on a tractor per year. And even in that fleet, we're seeing the utilization come down a little bit with some of the specialized dedicated light business that we're doing in Expedited. So net-net, it's a little bit of a clunky year because we had sold a bunch of equipment in Q1 and then we bought a bunch of equipment in Q2. So net, we're about even on net capital investment from not really doing anything in the first half of the year. And I think what we're going to see in Q2 or Q3 and Q4 is that $50 million to $60 million range. And so I don't anticipate us. I think we've got to justify the cost of capital before we start ramping capital investments up. I think that while I don't think the fleets are going to be reduced, I still feel like we're in really good shape from an average age considering the mix change. Our goal is to minimize disruptions from large capital equipment purchases in one single quarter and try to spread it out pretty evenly throughout the year. So I think going into next year with a combination of costs and quantities, you'll probably see a little bit more net CapEx, mostly just replacement CapEx, but there may be a little bit of growth in there. But it's too early to tell. We haven't nailed that number down yet. Jeffrey Kauffman: And then just a follow-up. Terrific contribution from TEL this quarter. It looks like equipment values are beginning to rise. I don't want to take this quarter and assume it's a run rate, but how should I think about what's going on at TEL and how I should think about that contribution as we move ahead? M. Bunn: Jeff, it's Paul. Related to TEL, yes, they did have a great quarter. I probably wouldn't use that as a run rate. I agree because it was a little higher than what we expect. But I do think somewhere minimum of what they made in Q1, somewhere between Q1 and Q2 maybe is what they'll see. If you think about it, TEL's customer base over the last -- they've been hit pretty hard by this freight recession, too, because a lot of their customers were these small to midsized carriers who were hit pretty hard by the freight recession. Conversely, there were bad debts in there, and we were struggling to keep the lease counts flat, just like truckers are struggling to time to keep enough freight to keep truck counts flat. I think what we've seen is their customer base that's made it through the rough years is set to thrive for the next 3 or 4 years of this cycle. And so David and I met with the TEL management team a couple of weeks ago. And I think similar to what you heard, I think you're going to see slow, steady progress for TEL over the next couple of years. And so we're really excited about where they're at and where they're going. And I think they'll continue to build quarter after quarter. But I agree that Q2 was a little bit hot based on some large equipment sales they were able to push through. But you're going to see a really solid trend for TEL over the next couple of years. James Grant: Yes. And I would even add to that: what we're seeing in July- I think this is probably a broader industry comment is a pretty steep pickup. We've spoken to a lot of different folks out there; we're seeing some strengthening. I would say what we've kind of encountered in the first half of the year is just an appetite for volumes. I haven't seen a lot of price improvement, but just an appetite for volumes, which is kind of step one. And now what we're seeing is an appetite for volumes and a little bit of a step-up in price that hopefully will impact us positively in the third quarter. Jeffrey Kauffman: And then, Tripp, finally, I know in the comments in the release, you said cost per mile was up about 16 and change percent, and you explained that a fair amount of that was because of all the settlements that you were seeing on insurance and claims. Did you quantify how much of that you would consider to be an unusual lump in the quarter and kind of as that recedes toward normal levels, what kind of cost per mile increases should we be thinking about in aggregate? James Grant: Yes. I'd be cautious when we talk about insurance. It's just so volatile, Jeff. But I will say, I mean, there's no doubt about it. It shocked all of us the way it developed this quarter, and you can look back historically and even with the trend in insurance and claims-related costs going up, this is a spike without a doubt. I would say anywhere from the combination of probably -- I mean, it could be anywhere from probably $0.05 to $0.08 a share probably from just a spike, which I don't know -- I would be cautious in modeling that from Q2 to Q3 to Q4 just because of the volatility of it. It was unusual without a doubt, historically looking back; that's a fact. But the forward-looking guidance is what I'm hesitant to say. Operator: [Operator Instructions] And at this time, there appears to be no further questions. I'll turn the call back over to our speakers to close out the call. James Grant: All right. Thank you, Ross. We just want to thank everybody for your interest in Covenant, and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter. Operator: Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for attending. 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Interested in Covenant Logistics Group, Inc.? Here are five stocks we like better. Revenue grew, but profitability declined: Second-quarter freight revenue rose 6.6% year over year to $294.7 million, while adjusted operating income fell 19% to $12.2 million. Higher insurance, maintenance and brokerage-capacity costs outweighed improved rates and revenue quality. Management is emphasizing contracted revenue and margin recovery: Covenant aims to renew expiring contracts, shift uncommitted capacity into long-term commitments and improve Managed Freight margins as customer rates catch up with capacity costs. Dedicated and Expedited operations are also targeting stronger margins through specialized, higher-value services. Sequential earnings improvement is expected: Management anticipates earnings will rise in the third quarter and again in the fourth, supported by a potentially tightening freight market. Net debt declined to $289.7 million, though the company expects $50 million to $60 million in second-half net capital equipment investment. Covenant Logistics Group (NYSE:CVLG) reported higher second-quarter freight revenue but lower adjusted operating income, as elevated insurance, maintenance and brokerage-capacity costs outweighed improving rates and revenue quality. Consolidated freight revenue increased 6.6% year over year, or about $18.2 million, to $294.7 million. The increase was primarily driven by brokerage assets acquired in the fourth quarter of 2025 that are now operated within the company’s Managed Freight segment. That growth was partly offset by an approximately 3% decline in freight revenue from the combined truckload operations following fleet reductions. → Why SK hynix Could Be the Best AI Chip Stock to Buy Now Adjusted operating income fell 19% to $12.2 million. CFO Tripp Grant said lower gross margin in Managed Freight was the largest contributor to the decline, while Dedicated Truckload improved and the company’s other operations declined modestly. Adjusted net income decreased 9.8%, though higher pre-tax income from Covenant’s minority investment in TEL and a favorable tax rate partly offset the operating-income decline. Grant said Covenant has spent the past decade shifting away from a primarily irregular-route trucking model toward specialized, value-added services including Dedicated and warehousing, where the company seeks multiyear customer commitments. The strategy is intended to reduce exposure to freight-market swings and create more stable margins through the cycle. → Microsoft Just Flipped the AI Spending Narrative Overnight “Over the next few quarters, we are focused on three execution priorities,” Grant said. Those priorities include transitioning expiring contracts into new long-term commitments, moving additional uncommitted capacity into committed revenue, and improving Managed Freight gross margins as contract rates catch up with capacity costs. Grant said the company does not expect its margins to rise as quickly as those of truckload peers with more uncommitted capacity during an upcycle. However, he said the contracted model should provide greater resilience when freight conditions weaken. → Carrier Earnings Could Send the Stock to a New All-Time High The company characterized the second quarter as a positive inflection point for the freight economy after a prolonged downturn and described 2026 as a transition year for the industry. Covenant expects revenue, operating margin and earnings to improve over time, though management emphasized that progress is likely to be steady rather than abrupt. The Expedited segment reported an adjusted operating ratio of 94.6, about 70 basis points above the prior-year quarter, though profitability improved 450 basis points sequentially from the first quarter. Over the past 12 months, Covenant reduced the fleet in the segment by 17%, while freight revenue per average tractor increased 6.8%. Grant said the company is pursuing more high-value cargo under multiyear committed-capacity agreements in Expedited. Revenue per total mile improved, although fewer miles per average tractor and elevated insurance-related claims costs affected the segment’s quarterly results. Covenant’s longer-term objective is to generate an average double-digit adjusted operating margin in Expedited across the freight cycle. Dedicated Truckload posted an adjusted operating ratio of 95, in line with the prior-year period. Freight revenue per average tractor rose 8.6%, but maintenance costs and insurance-related claims offset the benefit from improved revenue. Management said it aims to restore Dedicated margins to double digits, grow specialized high-service operations, improve returns from certain legacy accounts as contracts renew, and reduce fleet capacity that does not meet return expectations. Managed Freight revenue rose 28.4%, largely because of the acquired brokerage operations. Its margin, however, lagged the company’s long-term expectations as the cost of securing brokerage capacity increased faster than Covenant could obtain contractual rate increases from customers. Grant described this compression as typical in an early freight-market upcycle. The warehousing business met Covenant’s revenue expectations but did not improve margins sequentially because of continuing labor inefficiencies associated with a new customer. The company is targeting a high-single-digit adjusted operating margin for the segment. President Paul Bunn said excess insurance expense affected both Dedicated and Expedited by approximately 1.5 to 2 operating-ratio points compared with the company’s normalized run rate over the past 24 months. He attributed the increase partly to a higher-than-usual number of claim mediations during the quarter. Bunn said the claims were not individually “monster claims,” but that even moderate claims can reach seven-figure amounts in the current litigation environment. The effect was magnified as truck counts declined, he said. Maintenance expense also rose in Dedicated, including costs to prepare equipment for sale and costs related to protein-based operations. Bunn estimated those expenses represented at least one operating-ratio point of increased Dedicated costs. He said management does not expect the elevated insurance and maintenance costs to be fully recurring. Grant cautioned that insurance costs can be volatile because of Covenant’s level of self-insurance. He said the quarter represented the company’s highest historical level of claims activity of this type, driven by a large volume of smaller and moderate claims rather than a single major event. Management expects sequential earnings improvement in the second half, with Bunn saying Covenant expects to earn more in the third quarter than in the second quarter and more in the fourth quarter than in the third. The extent of improvement will depend in part on fuel prices, brokerage margins, insurance costs and maintenance trends. CEO David Parker said he believes industry capacity constraints, including driver availability and regulatory developments, could support a multiyear freight-market recovery. He said Covenant’s Dedicated pipeline is the strongest it has been and that demand for committed capacity is also extending into parts of the Expedited operation. Covenant’s net indebtedness declined by approximately $6.6 million from year-end 2025 to $289.7 million as of June 30. Its adjusted leverage ratio was about 2.2 times, and its debt-to-capital ratio was 41.2%. The company expects net capital equipment investment of $50 million to $60 million in the second half, depending on delivery timing and used-equipment prices, while anticipating improved operational cash flow and modest additional debt reduction. TEL contributed $5.3 million in pre-tax net income during the quarter, compared with $4.3 million a year earlier. Management said a substantial portion of the improvement came from higher equipment-sale gains and is not expected to recur in the third quarter. Still, Bunn said Covenant sees potential for gradual improvement at TEL over the next several years as its customer base emerges from the freight downturn. Covenant Logistics Group provides a comprehensive suite of transportation and logistics services across North America. The company's core offerings include less‐than‐truckload (LTL) and full truckload hauling, temperature‐controlled freight, intermodal transportation and freight brokerage. Covenant also delivers specialized solutions such as expedited “hot‐shot” deliveries, cross‐border shipping to Canada and Mexico, and dedicated contract carriage for time‐sensitive or high‐value shipments. With a network of service centers, terminals and partner carriers strategically located throughout the United States, Covenant supports diverse industries including food and beverage, automotive, retail, energy and manufacturing. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Covenant Logistics Group Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for July 2026.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Covenant Logistics Group, Inc. (NYSE: CVLG) (“Covenant” or the “Company”) announced today financial and operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2026. The Company’s conference call to discuss the quarter will be held at 10:00 A.M. Eastern Time on Thursday, July 30, 2026. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David R. Parker commented, “Our second quarter earnings were $0.32 per diluted share, or $0.42 per diluted share on a non-GAAP adjusted basis. We made constructive changes on the revenue side of the business, but our costs disappointed us in the quarter. Our strategy remains to pursue durable margin improvement during the current freight market upcycle through committed contracts that phase in over the next several quarters. “The freight market strengthened sequentially throughout the quarter, and our team did a good job of capitalizing on opportunities to improve the quality of our Combined Truckload revenue. During the quarter, we moved approximately 15% of our Expedited fleet from uncommitted freight to attractive committed contracts, expanded our dedicated protein supply chain exposure, reduced general commodity freight, and implemented rate increases for certain customers who fell short of our profitability requirements. These actions led to a 5.9% increase in Combined Truckload average freight revenue per tractor per week, consisting of a 15.1% increase in freight revenue per total mile, offset by an 8.0% decrease in average miles per unit. Over half the increase in freight revenue per total mile came from mix shift among business units, with the balance coming from rate increases. Our fleet size was down 3.3% sequentially and is expected to hold approximately steady into the stronger market. Our goal is to have substantially all our asset-based business under long-term dedicated or other committed contracts by the end of this freight market upcycle. Consistent with our strategy that lowered volatility during the recent freight market downturn, we intend to patiently pursue the customers and markets that help us create sustainable long-term value. “Combined Truckload margins failed to expand due to pressure from equipment and maintenance, insurance and claims, driver expense, and general overhead that has not reduced as quickly as our tractor count over the past year. Maintenance and insurance claims together were approximately 8 cents per diluted share higher than our expectations and historical averages and are not expected to continue at this elevated level. The excess maintenance and insurance claims expense more than offset an approximately 3 cents per diluted share benefit from a lower tax rate and interest income from a compensation plan, neither of which is expected to occur in the third quarter. “Managed Freight experienced early cycle margin compression due to capacity costs rising faster than revenue per load, which lowered gross margin. This is typical early in the cycle because capacity is sourced in the spot market and most of our freight rates are contractual. Additionally, last year’s quarter included the benefit of a surge contract that was discontinued. “Our 49% equity method investment with Transport Enterprise Leasing (“TEL”) contributed pre-tax net income of $5.3 million, or $0.16 per share, compared to $4.3 million, or $0.12 per share, in the 2025 quarter. TEL’s results benefited from higher equipment sale gains.” Second Quarter Financial Performance: Truckload Operating Data and Statistics Combined Truckload Revenue Paul Bunn, the Company’s President commented on Combined Truckload operations, “For the quarter, total revenue in our truckload operations increased 3.1%, to $205.8 million. The increase in total revenue consisted of $11.8 million more fuel surcharge revenue, which varies with the cost of fuel, offset by $5.6 million less freight revenue. The reduction in freight revenue is largely attributable to an 8.6% decrease in the average fleet size, offset with the improvements to pricing and freight mix discussed earlier. Expedited Truckload Revenue Mr. Bunn added, “Freight revenue in our Expedited segment decreased $9.5 million, or 11.4%. Average total tractors decreased by 146 units or 17.0% to 714, compared to 860 in the prior year quarter. Average freight revenue per tractor per week increased 6.8% compared to the prior year quarter, as a result of an 11.4% increase in revenue per total mile, partially offset by an approximately 4.2% decline in miles per average tractor. During the quarter, we converted approximately 15% of our Expedited fleet to multi-year committed capacity contracts and reduced a portion of the fleet serving customers with commoditized freight. As we progress throughout this cycle, our focus for our Expedited fleet is to serve customers who truly need our teams and are willing to agree to multi-year agreements as a sign of their commitment. Dedicated Truckload Revenue “For the quarter, freight revenue in our Dedicated segment increased $3.9 million, or 4.3%. Average total tractors decreased by 61 units or 3.9% to 1,485, compared to 1,546 in the prior year quarter. Average freight revenue per tractor per week increased 8.6% as a result of the expansion of our agricultural protein-related business and exiting non-specialized dedicated business that has struggled to meet profitability thresholds.” Combined Truckload Operating Expenses Mr. Bunn continued, “Our combined truckload operating expenses increased approximately $0.38 per total mile, or 16%, on a non-GAAP adjusted basis, primarily reflecting business mix changes from the prior-year quarter and slightly outpacing combined Truckload freight revenue per total mile increase of 15.1%. As our high-mileage, capital-intensive Expedited fleet has been reduced, our more specialized agricultural-related protein fleet within Dedicated has grown. This mix shift has produced a combined truckload fleet with more consistent and predictable volumes, but fewer miles per tractor, resulting in higher revenue and cost to serve on a per-total-mile basis. In addition to business mix, operating costs were elevated during the quarter, especially related to maintenance and insurance claims expense, which surged beyond our expectations and historical averages during the quarter. Going forward, we anticipate these costs to be more in line with our expectations, although given our level of risk retention, insurance and claims expense may vary from quarter to quarter.” Managed Freight Segment “For the quarter, Managed Freight grew freight revenue by 28.4% year over year increase, primarily attributable to the integration of assets acquired during the fourth quarter of 2025. However, the segment operating ratio and adjusted segment operating ratio were negatively impacted compared to the same quarter last year due to heightened costs associated with securing capacity, currently outpacing our ability to capture contractual rate increases with certain of our customers. Additionally, the 2025 quarter included the benefit of a surge contract in Managed Freight that was discontinued. As supply continues to exit the freight market, sourcing quality carrier capacity below contractual freight pricing remains challenging, despite the implementation of numerous rate increases. Additionally, higher insurance and claims expense has become a greater risk in Managed Freight after the Supreme Court’s recent Montgomery decision. Warehousing Segment “For the quarter, Warehousing’s freight revenue increased $1.1 million, primarily from onboarding a significant new customer in the fourth quarter of 2025. Segment operating income and adjusted segment operating income were comparable to the prior year period because new business startup expenses and operational inefficiencies more than offset the additional revenue. Looking ahead, our focus will be on returning this segment to high single digit margins through the combination of rate increases and cost reductions.” Capitalization, Liquidity and Capital Expenditures Tripp Grant, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, added the following comments: “At June 30, 2026, our total indebtedness, composed of total debt and finance lease obligations, net of cash (“net indebtedness”), decreased by $6.9 million to approximately $289.7 million as compared to December 31, 2025. In addition, our net indebtedness to total capitalization decreased to 41.2% at June 30, 2026, from 42.3% at December 31, 2025. “At June 30, 2026, we had cash and cash equivalents totaling $2.6 million. Under our ABL credit facility, we had $51.0 million in outstanding borrowings, undrawn letters of credit outstanding of $19.9 million, and immediate available borrowing capacity of $59.1 million. “At the end of the quarter, we had $0.3 million in assets held for sale that we anticipate disposing of within twelve months. The average age of our tractors increased to 26 months compared to 22 months a year ago. Given the mix change between our high mileage expedited fleet and lower mileage dedicated fleets, going forward, we anticipate the average age of our tractors to range from 25 to 28 months. “Our net capital expenditures for the first half of the year were less than $1.0 million, as proceeds from fleet downsizing and selling excess used equipment kept pace with the investment in new replacement equipment. For the balance of 2026, our expectations for net capital equipment expenditures range from $50 million to $60 million.” Outlook Mr. Parker concluded, “We were pleased with the recent progress in our top-line results, despite incurring higher costs to serve our customers. Based on our growing pipeline of customer demand, we expect our fleet count to stabilize, our fleet percentage under dedicated and committed capacity contracts to grow, and our margins to expand gradually. Most of our Combined Truckload fleet is under dedicated or similar committed capacity contracts, which will extend our renewal cycle compared with companies that operate largely in the uncommitted market. In the near term, approximately 40% of our Expedited fleet and 25% of our Dedicated fleet are operating under contracts that renew over the next 12 months, with many of these contracts being our least profitable. Additionally, we are intensely focused on reducing overhead and other controllable costs as a percentage of revenue. Despite our safety efforts, insurance and claims expense is expected to remain volatile due to high retention levels, the unpredictability of so-called nuclear verdicts in our industry, and the potential for higher costs and expansion of liability to Managed Freight operations after the Montgomery decision. For the third quarter of 2026, we expect a modest sequential increase to earnings per share as anticipated operating margin improvement is partially offset by the absence of higher TEL equipment sales, lower income tax rate, and interest income that benefitted the second quarter.   In the longer term, we are confident in our ability to grow revenue and materially improve our Combined Truckload operating margin as we continue offering world-class service to our customers and proactively reallocate assets to operations that we believe will enhance margins and returns. Conference Call Information The Company will host a live conference call tomorrow, July 30, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time to discuss the quarter. Individuals may access the call by dialing 877-550-1505 (U.S./Canada) and 0800-524-4760 (International). An audio replay will be available for one week following the call at 800-645-7964, access code 3895#. For additional financial and statistical information regarding the Company that is expected to be discussed during the conference call, please visit our website at www.covenantlogistics.com/investors under the icon “Earnings Info.” About Covenant Logistics Group Covenant Logistics Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, offers a portfolio of transportation and logistics services to customers throughout the United States. Primary services include asset-based expedited and dedicated truckload capacity, as well as asset-light warehousing, transportation management, and freight brokerage capability. In addition, Transport Enterprise Leasing is an affiliated company providing revenue equipment sales and leasing services to the trucking industry. Covenant's Class A common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol, “CVLG.” This press release contains certain statements that may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such statements are subject to the safe harbor created by those sections and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Such statements may be identified by their use of terms or phrases such as “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “could,” “continue,” “would,” “may,” “will,” "intends," “outlook,” “focus,” “seek,” “potential,” “mission,” “continue,” “goal,” “target,” “objective,” “strategy,” derivations thereof, and similar terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, which could cause future events and actual results to differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by, or underlying the forward-looking statements. In this press release, statements relating to equipment age, net capital equipment expenditures and related priorities, benefits, and returns, capital allocation alternatives, expectations for the general freight market, including rates and capacity, our ability to achieve our desired business mix, future margin and return on capital, future expenses, including maintenance and insurance and claims, progress toward our strategic goals and the expected impact of achieving such goals, and the statements under “Outlook” are forward-looking statements. The following factors, among others could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements: Our business is subject to economic, credit, business, and regulatory factors affecting the truckload industry that are largely beyond our control; We may not be successful in achieving our strategic plan; We operate in a highly competitive and fragmented industry; We may not grow substantially in the future and we may not be successful in improving our profitability; We may not make acquisitions in the future, or if we do, we may not be successful in our acquisition strategy; Global conflicts could adversely impact our business and financial results; Increases in driver compensation or difficulties attracting and retaining qualified drivers could have a materially adverse effect on our profitability and the ability to maintain or grow our fleet; Our engagement of independent contractors to provide a portion of our capacity exposes us to different risks than we face with our tractors driven by company drivers; We derive a significant portion of our revenues from our major customers; Fluctuations in the price or availability of fuel, the volume and terms of diesel fuel purchase commitments, surcharge collection, and hedging activities may increase our costs of operation; We depend on third-party providers, particularly in our Managed Freight reportable segment; We depend on the proper functioning and availability of our management information and communication systems and other information technology assets (including the data contained therein) and a system failure or unavailability, including those caused by cybersecurity breaches internally or with third-parties, or an inability to effectively upgrade such systems and assets could cause a significant disruption to our business; If we are unable to retain our key employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be harmed; Seasonality and the impact of weather and climate change and other catastrophic events affect our operations and profitability; We self-insure for a significant portion of our claims, have exposure outside of our insurance coverage, could be uninsured or underinsured, and have additional exposure following the Supreme Court’s recent Montgomery decision, which could significantly increase the volatility of, and decrease the amount of, our earnings; Our self-insurance for auto liability claims and our use of a captive insurance company could adversely impact our operations; We have experienced, and may experience additional, erosion of available limits in our aggregate insurance policies; We may experience additional expense to reinstate insurance policies due to liability claims; We operate in a highly regulated industry; If our independent contractor drivers are deemed by regulators or judicial process to be employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected; Developments in labor and employment law and any unionizing efforts by employees or employees of related businesses could have a materially adverse effect on our results of operations; The Compliance Safety Accountability program adopted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration could adversely affect our profitability and operations, our ability to maintain or grow our fleet, and our customer relationships; Receipt of an unfavorable Department of Transportation safety rating at any of our motor carriers could have a materially adverse effect on our operations and profitability; Compliance with and changes to various environmental laws and regulations; Regulatory changes related to climate change could increase our costs significantly; Changes to trade regulation, export controls, duties, or tariffs; Litigation may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations; Conflicting views on environmental and societal matters may have a negative impact on our business, impose additional costs on us, and expose us to additional risks; A large-scale outbreak of avian flu or related illness among the nation’s poultry flock may adversely affect the revenues of our Dedicated segment; Our ABL credit facility and other financing arrangements contain certain covenants, restrictions, and requirements, and we may be unable to comply with such covenants, restrictions, and requirements; In the future, we may need to obtain additional financing that may not be available or, if it is available, may result in a reduction in the percentage ownership of our stockholders; Our indebtedness and finance and operating lease obligations could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our industry or business; Our profitability may be materially adversely impacted if our capital investments do not match customer demand or if there is a decline in the availability of funding sources for these investments; Increased prices for new revenue equipment, design changes of new engines, future uses of autonomous tractors, volatility in the used equipment market, decreased availability of new revenue equipment, and the failure of manufacturers to meet their sale or trade-back obligations to us could have a materially adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and profitability; Our 49% owned subsidiary, Transport Enterprise Leasing, faces certain additional risks particular to its operations, any one of which could adversely affect our operating results; We could determine that our goodwill and other intangible assets are impaired, thus recognizing a related loss; Our Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer and his wife control a large portion of our stock and have substantial control over us, which could limit other stockholders' ability to influence the outcome of key transactions, including changes of control; Provisions in our charter documents or Nevada law may inhibit a takeover, which could limit the price investors might be willing to pay for our Class A common stock; The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile; We cannot guarantee the timing or amount of repurchases of our Class A common stock, or the declaration of future dividends, if any; Changes in taxation could lead to an increase of our tax exposure; If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, there could be an elevated possibility of a material misstatement, and such a misstatement could cause investors to lose confidence in our financial statements, which could have a material adverse effect on our stock price; and The effects of a widespread outbreak of an illness or disease, or any other public health crisis, as well as regulatory measures implemented in response to such events, could negatively impact the health and safety of our workforce and/or adversely impact our business and results of operations. Readers should review and consider these factors along with the various disclosures by the Company in its press releases, stockholder reports, and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or changes in the factors affecting the forward-looking information. For further information contact: M. Paul Bunn, [email protected] Tripp Grant, Chief Financial [email protected] For copies of Company information contact: Brooke McKenzie, Executive Administrative [email protected]

Freight and logistics provider Covenant Logistics (NASDAQ:CVLG) will be reporting results this Wednesday after the bell. Here’s what investors should know. Covenant Logistics beat analysts’ revenue expectations last quarter, reporting revenues of $307.2 million, up 14% year on year. It was an exceptional quarter for the company, with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates. Is Covenant Logistics a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it’s free for active Edge members. This quarter, the market is expecting Covenant Logistics’s revenue to grow 9.1% year on year, improving from the 5.3% increase it recorded in the same quarter last year. Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business will stay the course heading into earnings. Covenant Logistics has missed Wall Street’s revenue estimates multiple times over the last two years. Looking at Covenant Logistics’s peers in the transportation and logistics segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Knight-Swift Transportation delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 12.6%, beating analysts’ expectations by 2%, and Ryder reported revenues up 5%, topping estimates by 1.3%. Knight-Swift Transportation traded down 4.9% following the results while Ryder was also down 3.1%. Read our full analysis of Knight-Swift Transportation’s results here and Ryder’s results here. In the last twelve months or so, the market has shifted its attention from one area of macro importance to the next (AI disintermediation and AI capex spending to geopolitical conflict, rates, and whether the economy is on solid footing or not). While some of the transportation and logistics stocks have shown solid performance in this choppy environment, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 3.3% on average over the last month. Covenant Logistics’s stock price was unchanged during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $54.33 (compared to the current share price of $44.95). ONE MORE THING: 3 Hidden Platforms Growing 3X Faster than Amazon, Google, and PayPal. Amazon, Google, and Meta all followed the same playbook: Dominate an ignored market. Build an unbeatable moat. Scale until you’re unstoppable. These three platforms are running that exact playbook right now. The early investors in Amazon made fortunes. The early investors in these could do the same. Get All 3 Stocks Here for FREE.

As the Q1 earnings season comes to a close, it’s time to take stock of this quarter’s best and worst performers in the ground transportation industry, including Covenant Logistics (NYSE:CVLG) and its peers. The growth of e-commerce and global trade continues to drive demand for shipping services, especially last-mile delivery, presenting opportunities for ground transportation companies. The industry continues to invest in data, analytics, and autonomous fleets to optimize efficiency and find the most cost-effective routes. Despite the essential services this industry provides, ground transportation companies are still at the whim of economic cycles. Consumer spending, for example, can greatly impact the demand for these companies’ offerings while fuel costs can influence profit margins. The 15 ground transportation stocks we track reported a strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2.1%. Luckily, ground transportation stocks have performed well with share prices up 11.4% on average since the latest earnings results. Started with 25 trucks and 50 trailers, Covenant Logistics (NASDAQ:CVLG) is a provider of expedited long haul freight services, offering a range of logistics solutions. Covenant Logistics reported revenues of $307.2 million, up 14% year on year. This print exceeded analysts’ expectations by 6.9%. Overall, it was a very strong quarter for the company with a solid beat of analysts’ revenue and adjusted operating income estimates. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, David R. Parker, commented: “Our first quarter earnings were $0.17 per diluted share or $0.26 per diluted share on a non-GAAP adjusted basis. These results fell short of our expectations, largely as a result of severe weather shutdowns and fuel cost headwinds in January and February." Covenant Logistics scored the biggest analyst estimate beat and fastest revenue growth of the whole group. The stock is up 31.5% since reporting and currently trades at $41.03. Is now the time to buy Covenant Logistics? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. Founded by the son of a trucker, Heartland Express (NASDAQ:HTLD) offers full-truckload deliveries across the United States and Mexico. Heartland Express reported revenues of $176.3 million, down 19.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 2.6%. The business had a stunning quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and EBITDA estimates. The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 34.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $15.53. Is now the time to buy Heartland Express? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free. Founded in 1932, Universal Logistics (NASDAQ:ULH) is a provider of customized transportation and logistics solutions operating throughout the United States and in Mexico, Canada, and Colombia. Universal Logistics reported revenues of $367.6 million, down 3.9% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 1.3%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates. Universal Logistics delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. As expected, the stock is down 25.8% since the results and currently trades at $16.62. Read our full analysis of Universal Logistics’s results here. With access to millions of trucks, RXO (NYSE:RXO) offers full-truckload, less-than-truckload, and last-mile deliveries. RXO reported revenues of $1.43 billion, flat year on year. This print surpassed analysts’ expectations by 5.9%. It was a very strong quarter as it also produced EBITDA guidance for next quarter exceeding analysts’ expectations. The stock is up 37.4% since reporting and currently trades at $26.95. Read our full, actionable report on RXO here, it’s free. With its name deriving from the Commonwealth of Virginia’s nickname, Old Dominion (NASDAQ:ODFL) delivers less-than-truckload (LTL) and full-container load freight. Old Dominion Freight Line reported revenues of $1.33 billion, down 2.9% year on year. This number beat analysts’ expectations by 1.2%. Overall, it was an exceptional quarter as it also recorded a solid beat of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates. The stock is up 2.4% since reporting and currently trades at $227.09. Read our full, actionable report on Old Dominion Freight Line here, it’s free. Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand-wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure? These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability. Want to invest in winners with rock-solid fundamentals? Check out our Top 6 Stocks and add them to your watchlist. These companies are poised for growth regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. 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