Werner Reports Q1 2025 Revenues Decline but Maintains Focus on Growth Initiatives
Werner Enterprises kicked off 2025 with mixed results, as ongoing challenges impacted their financial performance. The company reported total revenues of $712.1 million, which is down about 7% from the same period last year. This decline was mainly driven by a $49.3 million, or 9%, drop in overall revenues, along with a $6.9 million decrease in Logistics revenues. After factoring in lower fuel surcharge revenues—about $15.3 million—the overall revenue decline was roughly 6%. The company pointed to several headwinds, including higher insurance costs, extreme weather events, a smaller fleet, and shifts in customer activity caused by tariffs and trade uncertainties.
In terms of profitability, Werner faced an operating loss of $5.8 million for the quarter, compared to a $15.6 million operating profit in the first quarter of 2024 — a significant change. The operating margin shrank from 2.0% to negative 0.8%. When adjusting for certain items, the non-GAAP operating loss was $1.8 million, compared to an $18.6 million profit last year, reflecting the tough environment but also efforts to control costs. The adjusted operating margin also declined sharply, from 2.4% to negative 0.3%.
Net interest expenses increased to $8.0 million, about $1.8 million higher than last year. This rise was mainly due to the company replacing lower-cost debt and interest rate swaps with more expensive financing options as some of those debts matured. The effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.7%, down from 32.9% last year, mainly because there were fewer unfavorable tax items.
On the investment front, Werner recorded a small gain of $0.1 million on its strategic investments, reversing last year’s loss of $0.3 million. These gains or losses are excluded from the non-GAAP earnings calculations. Overall, Werner reported a net loss attributable to Werner of $10.1 million, compared to a net income of $6.3 million last year. On an adjusted basis, the net loss was $7.3 million, versus an $8.5 million profit in the first quarter of 2024. Earnings per share came in at a loss of $0.16, compared to a profit of $0.10 per share last year. After adjustments, the loss per share was $0.12, versus earnings of $0.13 per share a year earlier.
While these results fell short of expectations, Werner remains optimistic about the road ahead. The company is focusing on cost-cutting measures, operational efficiencies, and winning new fleet contracts in its Dedicated division. CEO Derek Leathers noted that despite the headwinds, the company’s efforts in logistics and other segments are showing signs of strength, and they’re committed to driving growth, improving margins, and maintaining healthy cash flow.
