RXO Posts $51 Million EBITDA Quarter While C.H. Robinson Deal Looms

RXO beat the top end of its own profit guidance in the third quarter, posting $51 million in adjusted EBITDA against a forecast range of $35 million to $45 million — all while the brokerage prepares to be swallowed by C.H. Robinson. Revenue rose to $1.9 billion, up from $1.4 billion a year ago and $1.8 billion in the second quarter.

Because of the pending acquisition, RXO (NYSE: RXO) skipped its usual earnings call with analysts and withheld the summary slides that normally accompany results. The numbers, released Thursday, still told a story of a brokerage gaining traction in a freight market that has punished its peers.

"We exceeded the high end of our third-quarter profit outlook, demonstrating the momentum we're building across RXO," CEO Drew Wilkerson said in the company's prepared statement.

Can RXO stay in the black?

For the second consecutive quarter, the answer was yes. RXO recorded adjusted net income of 2 cents per share in the third quarter, following 6 cents per share in the second. That streak matters because profitability at RXO has been spotty for several years — a few positive quarters scattered among far more frequent red ink.

The EBITDA margin expanded to 2.7%, up from 2.3% a year ago, when adjusted EBITDA stood at $32 million. The second-quarter margin was also 2.3%, meaning RXO improved profitability sequentially even as revenue grew.

Not every metric moved the right way. Company-wide gross margin came in at 14.6%, down from 16.5% a year ago, though it improved on the 13.9% recorded in the second quarter.

What drove the volume?

Brokerage volume — the specifics of which RXO does not disclose — rose 2% year over year. Truckload volume increased in all three months of the quarter, the company said.

The truckload mix shifted heavily toward the spot market, which accounted for 51% of volume in the quarter. That compares with 59% a year ago and 42% sequentially.

That shift paid off. "This helped drive the largest sequential gross profit per load growth rate in more than four years," RXO said in its prepared statement.

LTL volume was up 2% from a year ago. The Last Mile segment — the piece of the business C.H. Robinson (NASDAQ: CHRW) has touted as an attractive asset that would strengthen the combined company — recorded a 5% increase in stops compared with a year ago.

Why the quarter matters for the deal

The results arrive as RXO's independence winds down. C.H. Robinson agreed to acquire the brokerage, and the deal has drawn backing from Jacobs, RXO's creator. Wall Street analysts have been positive on the transaction, while S&P has taken a more cautious stance.

For shippers and carriers working with RXO, the quarter signals an operation finding its footing: rising volumes, expanding EBITDA margins and a truckload book leaning into spot exposure at a moment when that strategy is generating profit per load. For C.H. Robinson, the numbers suggest it is buying a business entering the merger with operational momentum rather than deteriorating fundamentals.

How much RXO discloses going forward will depend on the deal's closing timeline — and with no earnings call this quarter, analysts and shippers alike were left to read the statement on their own.