Supply Chain Research

UPS reported revenue growth of 3.4% year over year in 2Q – the fastest of the big four forwarders to report so far – after a surge of 7.7% in its domestic packages business. More importantly cost controls helped UPS arrest a nearly two-year decline in profitability with a 15.2% EBITDA margin compared to 14.8% a year ago. While costs can be controlled, the trade policy environment cannot and CFO Richard Peretz is “concerned about the growing headwinds from trade uncertainty” for the firm’s outlook. That hasn’t meant UPS has lost out significantly from the trade war. In 2Q UPS’s China-to-U...