Maersk raises profit outlook as earnings surge, but shares slide on expectations miss

A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its full-year earnings forecast on Thursday after higher freight rates drove a sharp increase in third-quarter profit, but its shares fell as the results and upgraded outlook disappointed investors. The stock dropped as much as 11.6% in Copenhagen trading.

The Danish shipping and logistics group (OTC: AMKBY) reported quarterly earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, of $4.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion a year earlier. That fell short of the $5.04 billion average forecast in an LSEG analyst poll, despite a 27% increase in revenue to $18.1 billion.

Maersk, the world’s second-largest container liner, now expects full-year underlying EBITDA of $14 billion to $14.5 billion, compared with its previous forecast of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion. It also raised its underlying earnings before interest and taxes, or EBIT, forecast to $8 billion to $8.5 billion from $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion. Free cash flow is expected to exceed $3 billion, versus its previous forecast of above zero.

The increase marks Maersk’s third profit-guidance upgrade this year. The company attributed the latest revision to its third-quarter performance and improved visibility for the remainder of 2026, with the outlook based on global container-market volume growth of around 4%.

This story was originally published by FreightWaves. Read the full story at FreightWaves →