Loop Capital analyst Jeffrey Kauffman lowered his price target on Wabash to $25 after its lower than expected Q3 pre-announcement which he found surprising since "industry volumes and trailer orders remained robust". The analyst attributes the underperformance to "congestion costs" amid production slowdowns for supplier part shortages, truck chassis availability challenges, and higher materials costs that are reducing productivity. Based on these findings from industry participant discussions, Kauffman lowers his FY18 EPS view on Wabash to $1.54 from $1.98 and to $2.00 from $2.30, but maintains his Buy rating, anticipating these challenges to fade beyond the near term.

Reports Q1 revenue $515.3M, consensus $516.85M. "During the Q1, customer pickups of equipment lagged somewhat behind the pace of our production," said Brent Yeagy, president and CEO. "It's typical for customer pickup rates to vary between quarters, especially in slower years for the industry. We anticipate that the delays experienced in the first quarter will be recovered in subsequent quarters, particularly the second quarter."