FedEx profit leaps on rate hikes, e-commerce shipments

US delivery firm FedEx Corp on Thursday said quarterly profit almost doubled after rate hikes and spiking volume helped lower the cost of delivering pandemic-fueled e-commerce purchases to residential addresses.

Shares in the Memphis-based company, which have almost doubled in value over that last 12 months, reversed 3.5 per cent to $282.32 in after-market trading as executives warned that the new wave of Covid-19 cases increases economic uncertainty.

Fiscal second quarter adjusted net income at FedEx jumped to $1.30 billion, or $4.83 per share, from $660 million, or $2.51 per share, a year earlier. Revenue grew 19 per cent to $20.6 billion.

Analysts expected earnings of $4.01 per share and revenue of $19.5 billion, according to Refinitiv data.