UPS Q2: Trapped By Its Costs

Jack Bowman 10.09K Followers Follow Summary UPS remains a hold as restructuring and cost-cutting have yet to restore historical margins, despite Q2 top- and bottom-line beats. Q2 saw revenue of $22.8B and adjusted EPS of $1.76, but incremental revenue is not translating into meaningful profit growth. Shedding the Amazon contract and Driver Choice Program are positives, yet cost per piece inflation and weak margin leverage persist. A forward PE of 14x appears justified given the tepid margin outlook; risk remains from oil prices and lack of margin improvement. Trevor Srednick/iStock Editorial via Getty Images This is my fifth United Parcel Service, Inc. ( UPS ) article since October 2024, and for most of that time, it's been a hold from me. I had a brief buying stint between September 2025 and January of this year. That This article was written by Jack Bowman 10.09K Followers Follow Jack Bowman is a financial columnist and independent analyst, ranked in the top 5% of experts on TipRanks. He writes The Macro Obsession, a Sunday newsletter on finance, technology, and the real economy. It's chart- and narrative-driven. Jack unfiltered, with no editors and no guardrails. On Seeking Alpha, Jack is best known for macro commentary and high-yield fund coverage, though he also writes on technology, materials, and retail equities; most frequently on securities he holds or is weighing for his own portfolio. He invests across asset classes with a core focus on ETFs. Jack spent five years in investment advisory, running Bowman Capital Management, and contracting for independent RIAs, with work largely centered on portfolio management. He passed the Series 65 (the Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination) and was registered as an investment adviser representative starting in 2021. Before that, Jack was classically trained as a social science educator. He holds a BA in history with a public-history concentration and a master of education in pedagogy. He taught senior-level economics, civics, history, psychology, and journalism at a public high school for four years. Jack was a teacher for six years total, with his earlier two years spent at a public middle school teaching social sciences to academically gifted students. "Successful investing requires holding uncomfortably idiosyncratic positions." — Howard Marks, paraphrasing David Swensen Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of AMZN either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.