Marten performed better in the fourth quarter compared to the third.

Marten Transport Sees Signs of Recovery in Fourth Quarter Results

Marten Transport, a truckload carrier, released its fourth quarter financial results, indicating early signs of improvement in freight market conditions that began to emerge at the close of 2025.

Although the company’s net earnings and operating ratios were lower compared to the same period in 2024, Marten (NASDAQ: MRTN) reported sequential gains over the third quarter, which the company highlighted in its official earnings statement.

Chairman and CEO Randolph Marten expressed optimism, stating, “We are pleased with the quarter-over-quarter growth in our profitability. Our team also achieved increases in revenue per tractor, rate per mile, and miles per tractor across both our truckload and dedicated divisions.”

In the fourth quarter, Marten’s net income rose to $0.05 per share, up from $0.03 per share in the third quarter. However, this was still below the $0.07 per share reported in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Cost Management Drives Profitability

Effective expense management played a key role in boosting profits. While revenue declined from $220.4 million in the third quarter to $210.1 million in the fourth, costs also dropped. Salaries, wages, and benefits fell to $75.7 million from $79 million, and purchased transportation expenses decreased to $36 million from $42.3 million. These reductions helped offset the revenue drop.

Year-over-year, the company continued to cut costs, with salaries, wages, and benefits down 8.6%, and purchased transportation expenses reduced by 8.1%.

Despite these savings, the 8.6% year-over-year revenue decline outweighed the expense cuts. As a result, fourth quarter 2025 net income was $3.7 million, marking a 34% decrease from the $5.6 million earned in the same period last year.

Segment Performance Highlights

The most notable sequential improvement was in the Truckload segment’s operating ratio (excluding fuel), which improved from 102.2% in the third quarter to 99.1% in the fourth. This shift turned a $2 million operating loss into a $783,000 operating profit for the segment.

However, not all segments saw gains. The Dedicated segment’s operating ratio (excluding fuel) worsened slightly from 94% to 94.6%. Brokerage also saw its operating ratio rise to 98% from 95.9% in the previous quarter.

Dedicated operating income slipped from $3.42 million in the third quarter to just over $3 million in the fourth. Brokerage operating income also fell, dropping to $774,000 from $1.6 million.

Long-Term Perspective and Business Model

Marten does not conduct earnings calls with analysts. In his remarks, Randolph Marten emphasized a long-term outlook, noting that the freight sector has faced persistent weakness for nearly four years.

He commented, “Our diverse business model has continued to prove its worth through the performance of our dedicated and brokerage operations over the past two years. Our earnings have faced significant pressure from the prolonged freight recession, reduced demand, inflation-driven costs, lower freight rates, and network disruptions.”

Company Footprint Contracts

Over the past year, Marten has scaled back in several operational areas. The average number of tractors between the fourth quarters of 2025 and 2024 declined by 1.4%. For the Truckload segment, average miles per trip fell by about 4.5%, and total miles dropped approximately 2.6%.

In the Dedicated segment, the average tractor count decreased by 14.36%, and average miles per trip were down 5.43%. Total miles in Dedicated declined by around 15%.

Strategic Changes and Industry Trends

This quarter marked Marten’s first report since finalizing the sale of its intermodal division to Hub Group (NASDAQ: HUBG), which closed on October 1.

Industry-wide, the fourth quarter posed challenges for brokers due to rising spot rates and lower contractual prices. This was reflected in Marten’s brokerage unit, where the number of loads handled increased by 17.25%, but the operating ratio (excluding fuel) worsened by 500 basis points year-over-year.

Financial Position and Stock Performance

Marten’s cash reserves grew significantly, reaching $43.3 million at the end of 2025, up from $17.3 million a year earlier. However, this was a decrease from $49.5 million at the end of the third quarter. The company remains debt-free.

Over the past year, Marten’s stock price has declined by about 23.6%, though it has rebounded roughly 9% in the last month.