HUBG · Industrials(arrangement of transportation of freight & cargo) · 10 years of annual accounts filed with the SEC · latest fiscal year ended 2024-12-31
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Hub Group, Inc. reported revenue of $3.9 billion in fiscal 2024. Of the $2.4 billion its operations generated over 10 years, 51.4% went back into the business and 42.3% to acquisitions; the share count fell 99.9%. On the accounting screens, it passes 6 of 8 Piotroski tests, its Altman Z'' of 4.47 is in the safe zone and its Beneish M-score is below the -1.78 line; 1 of the six cross-checks between its statements fires.
Revenue, fiscal 20243.9B
Operating margin3.6%gross margin —
Return on invested capital5.8%9.9% on average over 5 years
Free cash flow after stock pay124.4M3.2% of revenue
Net debt ÷ EBITDA0.5×net debt 166.1M
Piotroski F-score6/8tests of improvement passed
Share counts are in today's shares. The SEC's filings restate only recent years after a split, so these jumps were read as splits and the older years scaled to match — otherwise per-share figures would compare different units:
2-for-1 before fiscal 2021.
Is it growing?
Revenue and the operating income it turns into. Growth that does not reach operating income is growth bought with margin.
RevenueOperating income
02.0B4.0B6.0B
2015Operating income 117.0M
2016Revenue 2.8BOperating income 96.6M
2017Revenue 3.1BOperating income 72.7M
2018Revenue 3.7BOperating income 124.9M
2019Revenue 3.7BOperating income 152.4M
2020Revenue 3.5BOperating income 105.8M
2021Revenue 4.2BOperating income 238.5M
2022Revenue 5.3BOperating income 474.7M
2023Revenue 4.2BOperating income 212.2M
2024Revenue 3.9BOperating income 140.3M
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Compound growth a year
3 yrs
5 yrs
9 yrs
Revenue
-2.3%
+1.5%
—
Operating income
-16.2%
-1.6%
+2.0%
Net income
-15.4%
-0.6%
+4.3%
Earnings per share
-12.4%
+1.2%
+128.9%
Free cash flow per share
+9.9%
-0.3%
+131.5%
Shares
-3.4%
-1.8%
-54.4%
Falling shares are buybacks: each remaining share owns more of the company.
Does it earn more than its capital costs?
Margins say how much of each sale is kept; return on invested capital says how much the business earns on the money it needs to operate. Growth only creates value when that return is above the cost of the capital.
Return on invested capitalCost of capital today · 9.4%
0.0%5.0%10.0%15.0%20.0%
2015Return on invested capital 9.5%
2016Return on invested capital 7.5%
2017Return on invested capital 1.4%
2018Return on invested capital 7.2%
2019Return on invested capital 8.4%
2020Return on invested capital 5.7%
2021Return on invested capital 11.0%
2022Return on invested capital 18.6%
2023Return on invested capital 8.6%
2024Return on invested capital 5.8%
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Economic profit
Economic profit
-100.0M0100.0M200.0M
2015Economic profit 1.3M
2016Economic profit -14.6M
2017Economic profit -84.3M
2018Economic profit -28.9M
2019Economic profit -13.4M
2020Economic profit -52.6M
2021Economic profit 26.0M
2022Economic profit 180.4M
2023Economic profit -15.8M
2024Economic profit -68.5M
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
(return on capital − cost of capital) × capital invested: the profit left after paying for the money used. Today's cost of capital is applied to every year, since a past one cannot be rebuilt honestly.
Return on equity
6.3%
Return on assets
3.6%
Asset turnover
1.38×
Overheads (SG&A)
2.9% of revenue
Is the profit cash, and where does the cash go?
Net income is an accounting opinion; free cash flow is what was left in the bank after investing. Stock-based pay does not leave the bank — shareholders pay it through dilution — so it is shown taken off as well.
Net incomeFree cash flowAfter stock-based pay
-100.0M0100.0M200.0M300.0M400.0M
2015Net income 70.9MFree cash flow 88.7MAfter stock-based pay 80.8M
2016Net income 74.8MFree cash flow -4.9MAfter stock-based pay -13.4M
2017Net income 135.2MFree cash flow 50.7MAfter stock-based pay 40.8M
2018Net income 201.7MFree cash flow 11.0MAfter stock-based pay -2.4M
2019Net income 107.2MFree cash flow 159.7MAfter stock-based pay 143.4M
2020Net income 73.6MFree cash flow 59.6MAfter stock-based pay 42.6M
2021Net income 171.5MFree cash flow 119.9MAfter stock-based pay 99.8M
2022Net income 356.9MFree cash flow 239.0MAfter stock-based pay 218.6M
2023Net income 167.5MFree cash flow 282.1MAfter stock-based pay 260.7M
2024Net income 104.0MFree cash flow 143.6MAfter stock-based pay 124.4M
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Where 10 years of operating cash went, 2015–2024
2.4B generated by the business. Each band is its share of that total.
Reinvested in the business 51%1.2B
Acquisitions 42%1.0B
Dividends 1%30.2M
Share buybacks 19%440.9M
More than it generated: funded with cash or new debt -14%-322.4M
Over the same years it paid 154.0M in stock. The share count fell 99.9%. 286.9M of the buybacks went beyond offsetting that dilution.
Per share
Earnings per shareFree cash flow per shareDividend per share
$-2,000.00$0.00$2,000.00$4,000.00$6,000.00
2015Earnings per share $0.99Free cash flow per share $1.23
2016Earnings per share $1.10Free cash flow per share $-0.07
2017Earnings per share $2.03Free cash flow per share $0.76
2018Earnings per share $3.01Free cash flow per share $0.16
2019Earnings per share $1,600.52Free cash flow per share $2,384.44
2020Earnings per share $1,096.49Free cash flow per share $889.13
2021Earnings per share $2,529.71Free cash flow per share $1,768.60
2022Earnings per share $5,318.22Free cash flow per share $3,561.24Dividend per share $0.00
2023Earnings per share $2,619.51Free cash flow per share $4,410.83Dividend per share $0.00
2024Earnings per share $1,701.90Free cash flow per share $2,349.63Dividend per share $494.99
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Shares outstanding
Diluted shares
020.0M40.0M60.0M80.0M
2015Diluted shares 71.9M
2016Diluted shares 67.9M
2017Diluted shares 66.7M
2018Diluted shares 67.1M
2019Diluted shares 66,960
2020Diluted shares 67,086
2021Diluted shares 67,784
2022Diluted shares 67,118
2023Diluted shares 63,954
2024Diluted shares 61,104
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
How strong is the balance sheet?
Debt is not bad in itself; debt the business cannot service in a bad year is. Net debt is debt minus cash, and below zero the company holds more cash than it owes.
Net debt
-100.0M0100.0M200.0M300.0M
2015Net debt -74.4M
2016Net debt 33.3M
2017Net debt 263.5M
2018Net debt 269.3M
2019Net debt 112.9M
2020Net debt 145.9M
2021Net debt 115.0M
2022Net debt 55.8M
2023Net debt 163.4M
2024Net debt 166.1M
2015201620172018201920202021202220232024
Net debt ÷ EBITDA
0.5×
Interest coverage
10× operating income ÷ interest
Current ratio
1.33 current assets ÷ current liabilities
Cash conversion cycle
—
Three classic screens of the accounts
Each asks a different question of the same statements — is it improving, does it look like a company heading for distress, do the accounts resemble ones that were manipulated. None is a verdict; each shows what moves it.
Piotroski F-score
Is the business improving? Nine yes-or-no tests, this year against last.
6of 8 tests passed
✓ProfitableReturn on assets above zeropassed
✓Cash from operationsOperating cash flow above zeropassed
✕Profitability improvedReturn on assets higher than a year beforefailed
✓Profit backed by cashOperating cash flow above net income (low accruals)passed
✓Less long-term debtLong-term debt as a share of assets fellpassed
✓More liquidCurrent ratio higher than a year beforepassed
✓No new sharesShare count did not growpassed
–Better gross marginGross margin higher than a year before — not reportedno data
✕Sells more per assetAsset turnover higher than a year beforefailed
Where it misleads: it measures change, not level. An excellent business that stood still for a year scores low; a poor one recovering from a disaster scores high.
Altman Z''-score
Does the balance sheet look like those of companies that went bankrupt?
4.47safe zone
1.12.6
Working capital ÷ assets 0.07 × 6.56+0.43
Retained earnings ÷ assets 0.71 × 3.26+2.30
Operating income ÷ assets 0.05 × 6.72+0.33
Equity ÷ liabilities 1.34 × 1.05+1.41
Where it misleads: buybacks. A company that returns so much cash that its equity turns small or negative sinks the last two ratios without being anywhere near bankruptcy. Banks and insurers do not fit the model at all.
Beneish M-score
Do the accounts resemble those of companies that manipulated their earnings?
-2.63below the -1.78 line
-1.78
Receivables vs sales 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.92
Gross margin slipping 1.00 (not reported, set to 1)+0.53
Soft assets 1.07+0.43
Sales growth 0.94+0.84
Slower depreciation 0.92+0.11
Overheads vs sales 1.15-0.20
Profit not in cash -0.03-0.15
Leverage rising 0.84-0.28
Where it misleads: fast growth and acquisitions. Sales growth carries a heavy weight, so a company growing 50% a year scores like a suspect without having done anything. It is a screen from a 1999 study, not an accusation.
Where the statements disagree
Cross-checks between the income statement, the balance sheet and the cash flow for the latest year, each with the benign reading and the worrying one.
Capital spending (51M) is well below depreciation (193M).
Benign
Mature assets, or a business that has become less capital-intensive.
Worrying
Under-investing: today's profit is being held up by consuming tomorrow's capacity.
What is it worth, under which assumptions?
A company is worth the cash it will generate, brought back to today. This model projects revenue with growth that fades over the years, applies a free cash flow margin, and discounts the result at the cost of capital. Every assumption says where it came from, and all of them can be changed.
The latest annual accounts are 21 months old; the company may have filed a newer year the SEC data here does not include yet.
Value per share, with these assumptions$45,477.69discounted at 9.4% a year · 52% of it from after year 10
Type a share price on the left to ask the reverse questions: what growth, what margin or what discount rate that price implies.
What the value implies, in the usual multiples
At this model's value
Price ÷ earnings
26.7×
Enterprise value ÷ EBITDA
8.8×
Enterprise value ÷ revenue
0.7×
Free cash flow yield
4.5%
From cash flows to a value per share
10 years of cash flow, today1.4B
Everything after, today1.5B
The whole business2.9B
Minus net debt-166.1M
What belongs to shareholders2.8B
Divided among 61,104 shares: <strong>$45,477.69</strong> each.
The projection next to its history
Reported free cash flow after stock pay, then the model's. A projection that looks nothing like the past needs a reason.
ReportedProjected
-100.0M0100.0M200.0M300.0M
2015Reported 80.8M
2016Reported -13.4M
2017Reported 40.8M
2018Reported -2.4M
2019Reported 143.4M
2020Reported 42.6M
2021Reported 99.8M
2022Reported 218.6M
2023Reported 260.7M
2024Reported 124.4M
2025Projected 208.4M
2026Projected 211.8M
2027Projected 215.4M
2028Projected 219.4M
2029Projected 223.7M
2030Projected 228.3M
2031Projected 233.2M
2032Projected 238.5M
2033Projected 244.2M
2034Projected 250.3M
2015201720192021202320252027202920312033
Year by year
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
Revenue
4.0B
4.1B
4.1B
4.2B
4.3B
4.4B
4.5B
4.6B
4.7B
4.8B
Growth
1.5%
1.6%
1.7%
1.8%
1.9%
2.1%
2.2%
2.3%
2.4%
2.5%
Cash margin
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
5.2%
Free cash flow
208.4M
211.8M
215.4M
219.4M
223.7M
228.3M
233.2M
238.5M
244.2M
250.3M
Worth today
190.6M
177.1M
164.7M
153.4M
143.0M
133.5M
124.7M
116.6M
109.2M
102.3M
If the least-known inputs move
Value per share as two inputs change at a time. Neighbouring cells that differ a lot are the conclusion: the value depends on numbers nobody knows to a point.
The discount rate and growth forever
discount ↓ · forever →
1.5%
2.0%
2.5%
3.0%
3.5%
8.4%
47,006
50,056
53,622
57,847
62,935
8.9%
43,628
46,221
49,217
52,719
56,869
9.4%
40,699
42,928
45,478
48,424
51,868
9.9%
38,084
40,013
42,201
44,703
47,594
10.4%
35,782
37,466
39,362
41,511
43,970
Year-one growth and the final margin
margin ↓ · growth →
-2.5%
-0.5%
1.5%
3.5%
5.5%
4.2%
31,984
34,958
38,166
41,623
45,346
4.7%
35,001
38,276
41,809
45,620
49,726
5.2%
38,039
41,616
45,478
49,644
54,136
5.7%
41,036
44,911
49,096
53,614
58,486
6.2%
44,053
48,228
52,740
57,611
62,866
All the inputs moving at once
5,000 valuations, each with growth, final margin, discount rate and growth forever drawn at random around the values on the left (spreads of 3.0%, 2.0%, 1.0% and 0.5%). Not a probability — the spreads are assumptions too — but an honest picture of how wide the answer is.
10th percentile$26,352.93
Median$45,462.06
90th percentile$70,879.05
$25,000.00$50,000.00$75,000.00$100,000.00
Half of the simulations land between <b>$34,998.35</b> and <b>$57,691.71</b>; one in ten below $26,352.93, one in ten above $70,879.05.
Does the long run make sense?
9.2×The terminal value prices the business in year 10 at 9.2 times that year's EBITDA.
Free growthIn year 10 free cash flow is at or above after-tax operating profit, yet the model grows 2.5% forever. Growth needs reinvestment; this assumes it comes for free, which flatters the terminal value.
52%of the value comes from after year 10. The more of it, the more the answer depends on the part nobody can see.
Every Form 4 filed in the last twelve months, read line by line: 6 filings by 6 people. Open-market purchases and sales are counted apart from awards, option exercises and shares withheld for taxes.
Bought on the open market—none in the period
Sold on the open market—none in the period
Under pre-arranged plans—of the sales followed a 10b5-1 plan set months earlier
A Form 4 says what happened, when, how many shares and at what price. It does not say why: a sale can be diversification, a tax bill or a plan fixed months earlier, and an award is pay, not a purchase. Nothing here is a reason to buy or sell anything.
Which large funds report holding it
From the Form 13F of the 28 institutions followed on this site, as of the end of their last reported quarter. A 13F is filed up to 45 days later and shows only long positions in US-listed shares.
Accounts from the company's own SEC filings; lines some companies do not report are shown as a dash rather than estimated. The risk-free rate is the 10-year US Treasury yield. A DCF is a way of making assumptions explicit, not a forecast: it states what the company would be worth if the assumptions held. The scores are screens that point where to look, not verdicts. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell.