FDX shares up almost 8 pct, company mum
CHICAGO, Jan 6 (Reuters) - The shares of FDX Corp. (NYSE:FDX - news) were up almost 8 percent on strong volume Thursday, although the parent of express package shipper Federal Express declined to comment on the movement.
''We don't comment on fluctuations in the market,'' said Shirley Clark, a spokeswoman for Memphis, Tenn.-based FDX.
FDX shares were up 3-7/16 at 45-7/8 Friday with 1.9 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company may have had pretty strong business over the holiday season, although FDX has not released holiday shipping numbers, one analyst noted.
''I would say that the volumes over the holiday season are probably pretty good,'' said Art Hatfield, analyst at Morgan Keegan.
The company also has an analysts meeting scheduled for Jan. 19, which analysts said could be prompting some speculative interest in the stock. Clark declined to say what would be discussed at the meeting.
Jeffrey Pittsburg, president of Pittsburg Institutional Inc., said a 3 percent fuel surcharge Federal Express announced last week might also be helping the stock. Rising fuel prices had pressured FDX earnings in the first two quarters of fiscal 2000.
FedEx competitor Airborne Express, a unit of Airborne Freight Corp. (NYSE:ABF - news), said late Wednesday it would also implement a 3 percent fuel surcharge. Airborne Freight shares were up 7/8 at 22-3/8 Thursday.
Meanwhile, United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE:UPS - news), the world's largest private-sector shipping company, was trading at 65-1/4 Thursday, down 2-3/4 from its composite close Wednesday. Last month, Atlanta-based UPS announced price increases, but did not implement a fuel surcharge.
Pittsburg, who put a buy recommendation on FDX stock Tuesday, also said the company should get a strong benefit from business-to-business electronic commerce, especially now that companies no longer have to focus their technology efforts on preventing the Y2K computer glitch.
''Now is the time that the speculators should be looking at FDX and Airborne, because of the net,'' Pittsburg said. ''The business to business part is just starting to kick in.''
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