Business Breakdowns
Episode 135 FedEx: Anytime, Anywhere
Business Breakdowns

Episode 135: FedEx: Anytime, Anywhere

Business Breakdowns

Episode 135

FedEx: Anytime, Anywhere

Staley Cates is the Vice Chairman of Southeastern Asset Management. We cover the history of FedEx and its famous founder, how it integrates seamlessly with eCommerce and the Postal Service, and how to accurately compare its margins and valuation to competitors.

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(00:04:27) - First question - An overview of Staley’s relationship with FedEx

(00:05:06) - How FedEx is doing as a business in general

(00:06:46) - A look at the different segments of FedEx’s business

(00:08:08) - The differences between FedEx’s express and ground services

(00:09:51) - A brief history of Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx and the opportunity he saw in the market

(00:14:03) - How eCommerce and other trends have affected FedEx over the years

(00:18:36) - FedEx’s position on whether to battle UPS for Amazon’s shipping alternative option

(00:20:25) - A look at the United States Postal Service and its role in the overall eCommerce system

(00:21:39) - The reasons behind the upside in FedEx Ground margins 

(00:26:07) - A look at LTL margins when it comes to FedEx Express services

(00:28:20) - Potential opportunities for FedEx moving forward

(00:31:24) - The re-fleeting of FedEx planes and other potential areas in FedEx’s business that may require capital expenditures

(00:33:19) - The challenges FedEx faced when integrating the acquisition of TNT

(00:36:04) - Bringing together FedEx’s different businesses to get an overview of the entire organization

(00:38:34) - Wage inflation and how that will affect FedEx’s margin profile overall

(00:42:56) - The potential for FedEx to compete with Amazon more directly

(00:45:42) - FedEx’s current stock price and its potential 

(00:50:29) - FedEx’s use of railroads and its expansion over the past two decades

(00:52:54) - An overview of the risks FedEx could face in the future

(00:54:19) - The lessons learned from studying FedEx

 

FedEx: Anytime, Anywhere

Introduction

Matt
This is Matt Reustle, and today, we are breaking down FedEx. FedEx has more direct impact on the U.S. economy than 99.9% of U.S. businesses, and yes, that's an actual statistic from Dun & Bradstreet.

It was a business started in 1973 with the famous Fred Smith as his planes delivered 186 packages to 25 cities. Today, that number has jumped quite a bit. FedEx moves about 15 million packages a day all over the world, and Memphis remains the center of the FedEx network. Their overnight hub can handle close to 500,000 packages per hour.

To break down FedEx, I'm joined by Staley Kates, Vice Chairman of Southeastern Asset Management and Memphis local. We cover the business of FedEx and how this network operates. In the coming years, FedEx will integrate their Express and Ground networks. Now if you've ever received 2 packages from 2 separate FedEx drivers within the same afternoon, it traces back to this network separation.

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