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Just For You J.B. Hunt Transport Stock Breaks Out, Why Landstar Could Be NextWritten by Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli. Published 10/20/2025. The stock market is a mostly rational mechanism, often pricing economic developments and events into company valuations. Some of those opinions are valid only briefly before becoming overstretched or irrational — situations where savvy investors can step in and earn profits with relatively limited risk. In today's environment, the transportation sector is one such area of opportunity. With shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. (NASDAQ: JBHT) rallying more than 26% in a single month, some bearish views on the transportation sector may begin to fade. That extreme sentiment (or bearish complacency) shows up in the First Trust Nasdaq Transportation ETF (NASDAQ: FTXR), whose top holdings skew toward airlines rather than trucking — an imbalance that could be corrected soon. Tariff risk and inflation remain concerns, so while J.B. Hunt was a clear winner in its latest quarterly report, one stock may be even better positioned to reward shareholders similarly. That stock is Landstar Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: LSTR), which — by association with the broader industry and on its own merits — could deliver double-digit percentage gains to portfolios in the coming months. Sentiment Confirmation by Association The final stretch of the year is packed with uncertainty — but while others guess, smart traders focus on verified market activity. Our free Small-Cap Signals Guide shows how to spot early momentum shifts, identify small caps with breakout potential, and understand the setups analysts are watching now. Get your free Small-Cap Signals Guide today Key Points - J.B. Hunt stock rallied by over 20% during its latest quarterly release, signaling a potential sentiment rebound in the trucking industry to help others.
- Landstar is up next to report its quarter, with a more nimble and technology-leveraged business to carry out an EPS beat.
- Wall Street analysts expect to see double-digit growth in earnings to support a new bull run in this company.
J.B. Hunt's rally could restore some positive sentiment across the transportation industry and within the ETF, but a lot of that upside is likely already priced in after such a big move. Still, those effects can spill over to other parts of the industry. That's where Landstar comes in. As a peer in the same industry, Landstar should be correlated with J.B. Hunt's move. Beyond industry association, higher demand for trucking and stronger logistics activity across the United States create a specific opportunity for Landstar. Landstar is not just a trucking and logistics operator; it also offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) component. Before investors focus on the financial benefits that leverage can provide, there is one thing to note. Landstar's stock is up about 6% over the past week, showing pre-earnings optimism ahead of its October 28 report. That gain also confirms that J.B. Hunt's admission of higher demand and industry recovery can attract bullish interest in related names such as Landstar. How Landstar's Business Makes It a Good Pick On the software side, Landstar posts a gross profit margin of 19.6%, slightly higher than J.B. Hunt's 18.9%. Gross margin alone, however, reveals little about overall efficiency beyond pricing power and service optimization. A more useful comparison is the balance sheet. J.B. Hunt carries over $8 billion in total assets, while Landstar generates stronger margins on roughly $1.7 billion in assets. That nimbleness can be valuable in today's environment, where tariff uncertainty and demand-cycle shifts can create pressures and bottlenecks for trucking companies. In addition to being leaner, Landstar's revenue mix is diversified by its logistics software segment. Higher costs can push operators to seek technology-driven savings — a need Landstar's services already address. Capacity utilization (sales divided by assets) for Landstar is just over 150%, compared with J.B. Hunt's 48%, which is closer to the industry average. What this means is that Landstar's business can operate effectively at high demand and throughput thanks to its software leverage, creating a tailwind for earnings when traditional trucking activity continues to pick up. Here's what investors should take away ahead of Landstar's next quarter. If J.B. Hunt could rally this much while being a less nimble, less diversified business, Landstar could match or exceed that performance if it reports a strong quarter. The MarketBeat consensus expects $1.45 in earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter of 2026, a jump of about 21% from the most recent EPS of $1.20. That outlook could push the stock to new highs, especially given that it currently trades at roughly 67% of its 52-week high. Investors appear to be pricing in future growth: Landstar carries a price-to-book (P/B) multiple of 4.8x, compared with the transportation sector average of 2.4x P/B. That premium suggests the market has high expectations for Landstar's returns given its setup and valuation gap. If the company meets or exceeds those expectations this quarter, the stock could see meaningful upside.
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