US trucking companies slip after Amazon launches LTL freight offering
BUZZ-US trucking companies slip after Amazon launches LTL freight offering Updates
** Shares of U.S. trucking companies down after Amazon AMZN.O launches less-than-truckload (LTL) freight offering for all businesses
** United Parcel Service UPS.N down 2.4%, Knight-Swift Transportation KNX.N drops 2.3% and J.B. Hunt JBHT.O slips ~3%
** Shares of FedEx Freight FDXF.N drop ~3%, XPO XPO.N slides ~5%, Old Dominion ODFL.O sinks 6.3%
** Amazon Freight Director Jim Ruiz said that the company's LTL service gives shippers a cost-effective freight shipping option while still offering the real-time tracking and reliability customers expect from Amazon
** Baird analysts cite "selling pressure," with LTL stocks trading at rich multiples; say "it may take time for the market to determine whether the perceived competitive threat amounts to much more than the announcement itself"
(Reporting by Megavarshini G. Somasundaram and Nandan Mandayam in Bengaluru)
((Megavarshini.SomasundaramGnanasundari@thomsonreuters.com))