Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPD) today announced fourth quarter 2022 financial results including the following highlights compared to the same quarter of 2021:

Diluted Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders per share (EPS¹) decreased 48% to $1.38
Net Earnings Attributable to Shareholders decreased 52% to $219 million
Operating Income decreased 47% to $330 million
Revenues decreased 36% to $3.4 billion
Airfreight tonnage volume decreased 20% and ocean container volume decreased 15%

"As pandemic-related bottlenecks eased and air and ocean supply/demand imbalances began to dissipate in the first half of the year, average buy and sell rates progressively declined to varying degrees, as they typically do – until they suddenly began to plummet simultaneously and faster than we would have expected in the fourth quarter," said Jeffrey S. Musser, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The rapid turnaround in Q4 was stunning and unparalleled."

"Fourth quarter demand also was softer than we would have expected, particularly in retail and high tech," Musser continued. "Many shippers had stockpiled inventory and pulled orders forward early in 2022, in a concerted effort to avoid the worst of the supply chain bottlenecks that materialized during the pandemic, when abrupt shutdowns and stay-at-home orders transformed how we live and do business. Those conditions, which were already starting to ease throughout the first three quarters of 2022, quickly reversed course as we entered the fourth quarter and shippers swiftly adapted to increased consumer caution and slowing demand for their products, while also battling inflation and tighter financing. We were especially impacted in North Asia, our second largest geography, as the lingering effects of the lockdowns contributed to the largest declines in our air tonnage and ocean volumes in at least a decade.

"I am extremely grateful to our people, who continued to perform at their very best as they have throughout the many significant challenges we have faced over the past couple of years. We recognize that the pandemic tailwind is gone and we are now in a marketplace in which the supply chain appears to have largely normalized. Nevertheless, a level of uncertainty remains and shippers are prioritizing cost controls as they scramble to adapt to an increasingly fragile global economy.

"While we remain very optimistic about the future, our short-term outlook is somewhat uncertain due to a difficult economic environment and the resetting of supply and demand, which has a direct impact on available capacity and pricing. We plan to move forward with a sharp eye on aligning expenses with revenues, particularly over the next one or two quarters. Our focus will be on maintaining our existing accounts and gaining new business, while reducing overall expenses. Just as we quickly configured our operations to accommodate unprecedented chaos and complexity during the pandemic, we now need to address our operations for a post-pandemic environment of soft demand and pressured pricing."

Bradley S. Powell, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, added, "This quarter was heavily impacted by a rapid reversal from the most robust operating environment we have ever seen. Economic uncertainty, government actions directed at trying to tame inflation, and severe challenges to the global supply chain gave way to sharply decelerating volumes along with a swift and simultaneous falloff in buy/sell rates. Such quickly evolving operating conditions impacted our results for the quarter, as did year-over-year comparisons to strong results in 2021. In addition, earnings before income taxes were impacted by an increase in discretionary field and branch bonuses that were awarded at year-end within our district incentive compensation program, as well as the recording of a non-income tax contingency, which on a combined basis totaled approximately $81 million. Our teams around the world worked well managing through significant challenges in 2022 always with careful attention to cash flow. Our cash flow from operations exceeded $2.1 billion in 2022 and we returned $1.8 billion to shareholders via repurchases of common stock and dividends."

Mr. Powell noted that the Company's annual effective tax rate for 2022 was 25.9%, compared to 26.3% in 2021. The fourth quarter of 2022 effective tax rate was 33.1%, compared to 27.5% in the year-ago quarter. The increase is primarily due to a change in the amount of foreign taxes incurred net of available foreign tax credits.

Expeditors is a global logistics company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The Company employs trained professionals in 176 district offices and numerous branch locations located on six continents linked into a seamless worldwide network through an integrated information management system. Services include the consolidation or forwarding of air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, vendor consolidation, cargo insurance, time-definite transportation, order management, warehousing and distribution and customized logistics solutions.

_______________________

¹Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share.

NOTE: See Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements in this release.

Disclaimer on Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements," based on management's views with respect to future events and underlying assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our optimism regarding the future and our uncertain short-term outlook; a normalized supply chain; softening demand; pressure on buy and sell rates; the continued unsettled operating environment due to uncertain air and ocean capacity; an increasingly fragile global economy; trade disruptions; rising fuels costs; the conflict in Ukraine; inflation, high energy costs, government fiscal and monetary measures, and signs of a slowing economy and drop in demand; and the uneven lifting of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions around the world. Future financial performance could differ materially because of factors such as: our ability to leverage the strength of our carrier relationships to secure space; the strength of our non-asset-based operating model; our expectation that the supply/demand imbalance, rate volatility, and various on-shore bottlenecks may continue; our ability to align expenses with revenues and to enhance our productivity; our ability to maintain our existing accounts and gain new business; our ability to invest in our strategic efforts to explore new areas for profitable growth; and our ability to remain a strong, healthy, unified and resilient organization. The ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, including, without limitation, those related to the success of our strategy and desire to maintain historical unitary profitability, our ability to attract and retain customers, our ability to manage costs, interruptions to our information technology systems, the ability of third-party providers to perform and potential litigation as updated by our reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These and other factors are discussed in the Company's regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those in "Item 1A. Risk Factors" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 and the Company's most recent Form 10-Q. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release speak only as of this date and the Company does not assume any obligation to update them except as required by law.

Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. Fourth quarter 2022 Earnings Release, February 21, 2023 Financial Highlights for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 (Unaudited) (in 000's of US dollars except share data)

	Three months ended December 31,					Twelve months ended December 31,
	2022		2021		% Change	2022		2021		% Change
Revenues	$	3,441,528	$	5,396,343	(36)%	$	17,071,284	$	16,523,517	3%
Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses ¹	$	2,425,565	$	4,026,748	(40)%	$	12,576,897	$	12,058,155	4%
Salaries and other operating expenses ²	$	686,257	$	746,066	(8)%	$	2,670,016	$	2,556,036	4%
Operating income	$	329,706	$	623,529	(47)%	$	1,824,371	$	1,909,326	(4)%
Net earnings attributable to shareholders	$	219,276	$	452,832	(52)%	$	1,357,399	$	1,415,492	(4)%
Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share	$	1.38	$	2.66	(48)%	$	8.26	$	8.27	—
Basic earnings attributable to shareholders per share	$	1.39	$	2.69	(48)%	$	8.33	$	8.37	—
Diluted weighted average shares outstanding		158,535		170,293			164,427		171,250
Basic weighted average shares outstanding		157,269		168,393			163,010		169,145

¹Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses totals Operating Expenses from Airfreight services, Ocean freight and ocean services and Customs brokerage and other services as shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

²Salaries and other operating expenses totals Salaries and related, Rent and occupancy, Depreciation and amortization, Selling and promotion and Other as shown in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings.

During the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2022, we repurchased 5.0 million and 14.5 million shares of common stock at an average price of $112.76 and $108.88 per share, respectively. During the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2021, we repurchased 2.3 million and 4.4 million shares of common stock at an average price of $123.71 and $117.54 per share, respectively. In addition, during 2022 and 2021, we paid cash dividends of $1.34 and $1.16 per share, respectively.

	Employee Full-time Equivalents as of December 31,
	2022		2021
North America		7,778		7,613
Europe		4,228		3,961
North Asia		2,448		2,485
South Asia		1,851		1,783
Middle East, Africa and India		1,540		1,504
Latin America		859		833
Information Systems		1,173		994
Corporate		425		415
Total		20,302		19,588

	Fourth quarter year-over-year percentage decrease in:
	Airfreight kilos	Ocean freight FEU
2022
October	(16)%	(11)%
November	(20)%	(15)%
December	(24)%	(19)%
Quarter	(20)%	(15)%

Investors may submit written questions via e-mail to: investor@expeditors.com. Questions received by the end of business on February 24, 2023 will be considered in management's 8-K "Responses to Selected Questions."

EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

	December 31, 2022			December 31, 2021
Assets:
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	2,034,131		$	1,728,692
Accounts receivable, less allowance for credit loss of $9,466 and $6,686 at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively		2,107,645			3,810,286
Deferred contract costs		257,545			987,266
Other		118,696			108,801
Total current assets		4,518,017			6,635,045
Property and equipment, net		501,916			487,870
Operating lease right-of-use assets		507,503			459,158
Goodwill		7,927			7,927
Deferred federal and state income taxes, net		37,449			729
Other assets, net		17,622			19,200
Total assets	$	5,590,434		$	7,609,929
Liabilities:
Current Liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	1,108,996		$	2,012,461
Accrued expenses, primarily salaries and related costs		479,262			403,625
Contract liabilities		323,101			1,142,026
Current portion of operating lease liabilities		95,621			82,019
Federal, state and foreign income taxes		47,075			86,166
Total current liabilities		2,054,055			3,726,297
Noncurrent portion of operating lease liabilities		422,844			385,641
Commitments and contingencies
Shareholders' Equity:
Preferred stock, none issued		—			—
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share. Issued and outstanding: 154,313 shares and 167,210 shares at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively		1,543			1,672
Additional paid-in capital		139			3,160
Retained earnings		3,310,892			3,620,008
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(202,553	)		(130,414	)
Total shareholders' equity		3,110,021			3,494,426
Noncontrolling interest		3,514			3,565
Total equity		3,113,535			3,497,991
Total liabilities and equity	$	5,590,434		$	7,609,929

EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Earnings
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

	Three months ended December 31,						Twelve months ended December 31,
	2022			2021			2022			2021
Revenues:
Airfreight services	$	1,204,810		$	2,293,803		$	5,886,886		$	6,771,402
Ocean freight and ocean services		1,124,088			1,894,759			6,544,559			5,545,818
Customs brokerage and other services		1,112,630			1,207,781			4,639,839			4,206,297
Total revenues		3,441,528			5,396,343			17,071,284			16,523,517
Operating Expenses:
Airfreight services		899,865			1,732,127			4,359,726			5,067,380
Ocean freight and ocean services		842,103			1,505,140			5,188,066			4,364,160
Customs brokerage and other services		683,597			789,481			3,029,105			2,626,615
Salaries and related		509,884			609,449			2,056,387			2,062,351
Rent and occupancy		54,291			48,911			209,532			186,287
Depreciation and amortization		14,922			12,897			57,338			51,312
Selling and promotion		8,119			5,547			24,293			16,026
Other		99,041			69,262			322,466			240,060
Total operating expenses		3,111,822			4,772,814			15,246,913			14,614,191
Operating income		329,706			623,529			1,824,371			1,909,326
Other Income (Expense):
Interest income		13,107			2,211			25,554			8,807
Interest expense		(22,245	)		(312	)		(23,277	)		(411	)
Other, net		480			413			9,243			6,894
Other income (expense), net		(8,658	)		2,312			11,520			15,290
Earnings before income taxes		321,048			625,841			1,835,891			1,924,616
Income tax expense		106,311			171,830			475,286			505,771
Net earnings		214,737			454,011			1,360,605			1,418,845
Less net (losses) earnings attributable to the noncontrolling interest		(4,539	)		1,179			3,206			3,353
Net earnings attributable to shareholders	$	219,276		$	452,832		$	1,357,399		$	1,415,492
Diluted earnings attributable to shareholders per share	$	1.38		$	2.66		$	8.26		$	8.27
Basic earnings attributable to shareholders per share	$	1.39		$	2.69		$	8.33		$	8.37
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding		158,535			170,293			164,427			171,250
Weighted average basic shares outstanding		157,269			168,393			163,010			169,145

EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

	Three months ended December 31,						Twelve months ended December 31,
	2022			2021			2022			2021
Operating Activities:
Net earnings	$	214,737		$	454,011		$	1,360,605		$	1,418,845
Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash from operating activities:
Provisions for losses on accounts receivable		1,133			1,512			11,050			7,540
Deferred income tax benefit		(18,312	)		(6,033	)		(33,240	)		(3,690	)
Stock compensation expense		13,101			12,087			64,397			69,385
Depreciation and amortization		14,922			12,897			57,338			51,312
Other, net		1,108			2,267			1,252			3,790
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Decrease (increase) in accounts receivable		711,977			(491,830	)		1,592,341			(1,869,827	)
(Decrease) increase in accounts payable and accrued expenses		(454,221	)		272,280			(798,123	)		1,041,805
Decrease (increase) in deferred contract costs		277,805			(149,701	)		714,960			(700,273	)
(Decrease) increase in contract liabilities		(309,530	)		168,551			(798,356	)		803,837
Increase (decrease) in income taxes payable, net		23,439			25,845			(55,129	)		57,867
Decrease (increase) in other, net		10,540			3,111			12,580			(12,097	)
Net cash from operating activities		486,699			304,997			2,129,675			868,494
Investing Activities:
Purchase of property and equipment		(18,326	)		(11,447	)		(86,824	)		(36,247	)
Other, net		(245	)		(345	)		(890	)		(398	)
Net cash from investing activities		(18,571	)		(11,792	)		(87,714	)		(36,645	)
Financing Activities:
Payments from borrowing on lines of credit		(688	)		19			(30,289	)		(2,551	)
Proceeds from borrowing on lines of credit		25,211			(75	)		81,756			10,063
Proceeds from issuance of common stock		7,662			6,672			80,980			106,105
Repurchases of common stock		(563,802	)		(289,530	)		(1,581,908	)		(514,594	)
Dividends Paid		(103,971	)		(97,379	)		(213,799	)		(195,766	)
Payments for taxes related to net share settlement of equity awards		(2	)		—			(19,335	)		(15,172	)
Distributions to noncontrolling interest		(1,402	)		—			(1,945	)		(1,631	)
Net cash from financing activities		(636,992	)		(380,293	)		(1,684,540	)		(613,546	)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents		48,461			(4,326	)		(51,982	)		(17,402	)
Change in cash and cash equivalents		(120,403	)		(91,414	)		305,439			200,901
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		2,154,534			1,820,106			1,728,692			1,527,791
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	2,034,131		$	1,728,692		$	2,034,131		$	1,728,692
Taxes Paid:
Income taxes	$	100,822		$	147,396		$	566,533		$	442,549

EXPEDITORS INTERNATIONAL OF WASHINGTON, INC.
AND SUBSIDIARIES

Business Segment Information
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

	UNITED STATES			OTHER NORTH AMERICA			LATIN AMERICA			NORTH ASIA			SOUTH ASIA			EUROPE			MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND INDIA		ELIMI- NATIONS			CONSOLI- DATED
For the three months ended December 31, 2022:
Revenues	$	1,118,262			127,442			65,821			969,266			367,679			599,947			194,342		(1,231	)		3,441,528
Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses¹	$	639,804			80,052			41,480			799,583			288,014			432,835			144,377		(580	)		2,425,565
Salaries and other operating expenses²	$	(18,767	)		101,864			29,523			178,038			117,024			239,627			39,588		(640	)		686,257
Operating income (loss)	$	497,225			(54,474	)		(5,182	)		(8,355	)		(37,359	)		(72,515	)		10,377		(11	)		329,706
Identifiable assets at period end	$	3,070,697			209,516			123,003			675,022			316,777			938,660			283,872		(27,113	)		5,590,434
Capital expenditures	$	11,262			282			232			1,098			391			4,525			536		—			18,326
Depreciation and amortization	$	9,433			454			280			1,069			472			2,527			687		—			14,922
Equity	$	2,246,417			31,132			56,416			274,703			136,944			263,278			145,269		(40,624	)		3,113,535
For the three months ended December 31, 2021:
Revenues	$	1,337,772			128,240			63,013			2,154,243			740,305			682,819			291,040		(1,089	)		5,396,343
Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses¹	$	760,915			70,450			39,072			1,824,159			615,659			485,732			231,171		(410	)		4,026,748
Salaries and other operating expenses²	$	300,474			33,033			15,908			160,862			58,360			135,422			42,682		(675	)		746,066
Operating income	$	276,383			24,757			8,033			169,222			66,286			61,665			17,187		(4	)		623,529
Identifiable assets at period end	$	3,699,748			265,872			122,327			1,587,659			572,980			1,089,963			350,843		(79,463	)		7,609,929
Capital expenditures	$	7,596			549			171			594			595			1,599			343		—			11,447
Depreciation and amortization	$	7,476			439			270			1,269			508			2,333			602		—			12,897
Equity	$	2,599,804			111,952			41,743			224,765			140,129			294,348			123,598		(38,348	)		3,497,991

	UNITED STATES		OTHER NORTH AMERICA		LATIN AMERICA		NORTH ASIA		SOUTH ASIA		EUROPE		MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND INDIA		ELIMI- NATIONS			CONSOLI- DATED
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2022:
Revenues	$	4,869,364		517,662		257,721		5,810,088		2,144,034		2,471,456		1,005,489		(4,530	)		17,071,284
Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses¹	$	2,943,232		310,206		160,273		4,853,902		1,751,187		1,768,102		791,887		(1,892	)		12,576,897
Salaries and other operating expenses²	$	944,050		188,192		72,177		504,805		238,658		573,598		151,069		(2,533	)		2,670,016
Operating income	$	982,082		19,264		25,271		451,381		154,189		129,756		62,533		(105	)		1,824,371
Identifiable assets at period end	$	3,070,697		209,516		123,003		675,022		316,777		938,660		283,872		(27,113	)		5,590,434
Capital expenditures	$	56,411		2,954		937		2,976		1,543		17,868		4,135		—			86,824
Depreciation and amortization	$	35,461		1,892		1,123		4,682		1,966		9,640		2,574		—			57,338
Equity	$	2,246,417		31,132		56,416		274,703		136,944		263,278		145,269		(40,624	)		3,113,535
For the twelve months ended December 31, 2021:
Revenues	$	4,344,825		440,226		209,161		6,363,054		2,046,569		2,258,911		865,509		(4,738	)		16,523,517
Directly related cost of transportation and other expenses¹	$	2,491,947		245,842		125,940		5,295,612		1,666,792		1,558,705		675,303		(1,986	)		12,058,155
Salaries and other operating expenses²	$	1,019,236		123,147		57,779		515,703		204,574		494,760		143,581		(2,744	)		2,556,036
Operating income	$	833,642		71,237		25,442		551,739		175,203		205,446		46,625		(8	)		1,909,326
Identifiable assets at period end	$	3,699,748		265,872		122,327		1,587,659		572,980		1,089,963		350,843		(79,463	)		7,609,929
Capital expenditures	$	19,527		983		471		1,786		2,057		9,507		1,916		—			36,247
Depreciation and amortization	$	29,826		1,780		1,079		5,047		1,965		9,228		2,387		—			51,312
Equity	$	2,599,804		111,952		41,743		224,765		140,129		294,348		123,598		(38,348	)		3,497,991

In 2022, certain intercompany fees were billed to our subsidiaries in the 4^th quarter covering the entirety of 2022. This resulted in fourth quarter operating losses or reduced operating income for some of our business segments when compared to the prior year as in 2021 these amounts were billed monthly.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230220005285/en/

Expeditors Reports Fourth Quarter 2022 EPS of $1.38