United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS)

UPS reported on 27 October that third-quarter revenue rose 6.7 percent to $22.9 billion, with growth in all three of its businesses 1. Net income fell to $1,163 million from $1,311 million a year earlier 1. The quarter carried $130 million of after-tax restructuring costs and a $182 million goodwill impairment, a write-down of the premium once paid for a business in Supply Chain Solutions 1.

The U.S. business brought in 4.5 percent more on 6.1 percent more revenue per package, while handling about 3 percent fewer packages a day (computed) 1. That is the plan announced in January 2025: fewer, better-paying packages, after cutting Amazon's volume by more than half 623. Chief executive Carol Tomé credited "premium growth and greater network efficiency" 1.

International revenue rose 7.1 percent, and Supply Chain Solutions, the forwarding and logistics arm, grew 18.2 percent, led by forwarding and healthcare logistics 1. UPS raised its 2026 revenue outlook to about $92.6 billion, from about $91.2 billion in July 14. The open question is the holiday peak, for which the company expects fourth-quarter revenue of about $25.7 billion 1.

UPS, founded in 1907, grew into a global package delivery and logistics provider serving more than 200 countries and territories 2. In 2019 it brought in $74.1 billion and earned $4.4 billion 7. Carol Tomé, finance chief of The Home Depot from 2001 to 2019, became chief executive in 2020 7.

The pandemic changed what moved through the network: business shipments fell while home deliveries surged 7. Average daily volume rose 12.8 percent in 2020 and revenue 14.2 percent, to $84.6 billion 7. Net income fell to $1.3 billion, mostly because of a $4.9 billion after-tax pension accounting loss from remeasuring retirement plans 7.

In 2021 revenue rose 15.0 percent to $97.3 billion as revenue per package climbed 12.6 percent, and operating profit grew 66.7 percent 8. Under a framework called "Better not Bigger", UPS put revenue quality ahead of volume 8. It divested UPS Freight in April 2021 for $848 million and acquired Roadie, a same-day delivery platform, for $586 million 8.

Revenue peaked at $100.3 billion in 2022, then fell 9.3 percent to $91.0 billion in 2023 9. The annual report blames inflation, changing consumer habits and volume diverted to rivals during the Teamsters contract talks 9. The new five-year Teamsters agreement, ratified in the third quarter of 2023, raises union costs at a 3.3 percent compounded annual rate 9.

Revenue held near $91.1 billion in 2024, as volume returned to growth for the first time in three years 10. UPS finished onboarding air cargo for the U.S. Postal Service, becoming its primary air cargo provider within the United States 10. It divested Coyote, its truckload brokerage, for $1.0 billion; Coyote had brought in $1.6 billion of revenue that year 2.

The turning point came on 30 January 2025, when UPS said it had agreed in principle with its largest customer to lower that customer's volume by more than 50 percent 6. The customer is Amazon, which still made up 10.6 percent of 2025 revenue 2. With it came a reconfiguration of the U.S. network and Efficiency Reimagined, an end-to-end redesign of how work is done 6.

Revenue slipped 2.6 percent to $88.7 billion in 2025 as daily volume fell 7.0 percent while revenue per piece rose 6.6 percent 2. Trade policy changes, including the end of duty exemptions for low-value imports, cut volume on the China to U.S. lane 2. Its 2025 acquisitions, chiefly Frigo-Trans in Germany and Andlauer Healthcare Group in Canada, cost about $2.0 billion, and it dropped a planned purchase of Mexico's Estafeta 211.

In November 2025 a UPS MD-11 cargo plane crashed on takeoff at Louisville, killing its three crew members and 11 people on the ground 312. The safety board's preliminary report found fatigue cracks in the mounts of the left engine pylon, which detached during takeoff 12. UPS permanently grounded and then retired its 26 MD-11s, with a $182 million charge 2.

In the first half of 2026 UPS closed 45 buildings and recorded about $1.1 billion of separation costs for the Driver Choice Program, a voluntary exit offer to full-time U.S. drivers 3. It completed the Amazon reduction in the second quarter, with that customer's volume down more than 50 percent from 2024 levels 3.

U.S. Domestic Package

The largest business carries letters, documents and packages across the United States by air and ground 2. It brought in $59.5 billion in 2025, about 67 percent of revenue (computed) 2. Ground made $44.2 billion of that, Next Day Air $9.7 billion and Deferred, the slower air services, $4.4 billion 2.

The average Ground package brought in $11.60 in 2025 and the average Next Day Air package $25.55 2. List rates for 2026 rose an average 5.9 percent on 22 December 2025, and TransImpact, a parcel consultancy, notes that nearly every surcharge rose more 14. Ground Saver, an economy service, replaced SurePost in January 2025, and the Postal Service now delivers the last mile for part of it 23.

In the third quarter U.S. revenue was $14.87 billion at an operating margin of 6.1 percent, and its cost per package was $13.45 1.

International Package

International Package delivers to more than 200 countries and territories, including shipments wholly outside the United States, with customs brokerage to clear borders 2. Its services run from express to UPS Worldwide Expedited, UPS Standard ground delivery within Europe and between the U.S. and Canada or Mexico, and Worldwide Economy for non-urgent e-commerce 2. It brought in $18.6 billion in 2025 at a 15.5 percent operating margin, the highest of the three businesses (computed) 2.

Third-quarter revenue was $5.0 billion, with revenue per piece up 15.0 percent and an operating margin of 14.9 percent 1.

Supply Chain Solutions and healthcare

Supply Chain Solutions groups air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, contract logistics, Mail Innovations and digital services 2. It brought in $10.6 billion in 2025, down 17.0 percent, mostly because Coyote was gone 2. Healthcare work across the company generated more than $11 billion of 2025 revenue, toward a stated goal of leading the world in complex healthcare logistics 2.

The digital side includes Roadie for same-day delivery, Happy Returns for returns through The UPS Store, and UPS Capital for shipment insurance 2. In the third quarter the segment grew 18.2 percent to $2.98 billion, but the goodwill charge cut its operating margin to 3.1 percent 1.

Plants, planes and trucks

UPS owns or leases about 1,000 U.S. package facilities with about 90 million square feet, and about 800 facilities abroad 2. Its main air hub, Worldport, is in Louisville, Kentucky, with a major European hub in Germany and Asian hubs in China and Hong Kong 2. At the end of 2025 it flew 295 aircraft of its own, used 221 chartered or leased, and had 18 Boeing 767s on order 2.

Its ground fleet numbered about 125,000 package cars, vans, tractors and motorcycles, about 19,000 of them running on alternative fuel or advanced technology 2.

People

Carol Tomé has led the company since 2020, and Brian Dykes is chief financial officer 71. On 1 September 2026 Wilfredo Ramos succeeded Kate Gutmann over international, healthcare and supply chain, Nando Cesarone became chief global operations officer and Matt Guffey chief U.S. domestic officer 5. A search is under way for a new chief global commercial strategy officer 5.

UPS has about 460,000 employees, 370,000 of them in the United States, and nearly 80 percent of U.S. employees are represented by unions 2. The Teamsters national master agreement runs to 31 July 2028 2. Talks with the Independent Pilots Association, which represents about 3,400 pilots, were still going on at the last quarterly report 23.

Rivals

UPS competes with local, regional, national and international carriers and with national postal services 2. Pitney Bowes' Parcel Shipping Index puts Amazon Logistics first among U.S. parcel carriers by volume in 2025, with 6.9 billion parcels 13. By the index's reading, UPS's share of U.S. parcel revenue fell from 34 percent in 2024 to 31.6 percent in 2025, while Amazon, the Postal Service and FedEx stayed about flat 13.

Current problems

The Louisville crash has brought claims and lawsuits, and by 30 June 2026 UPS had recorded $104 million of environmental cleanup costs, matched by expected insurance recoveries 3. A Pennsylvania class action seeks unpaid overtime, and in June 2026 Spain's Supreme Court upheld a competition decision against UPS that it intends to appeal further 3. After the Supreme Court struck down emergency tariffs in February 2026, UPS won approval for about $500 million of refunds to pass through to customers 3.

The umbrella, in words

The annual report's list of subsidiaries names 36 companies and, as SEC rules allow, leaves others out 15. Among them are The UPS Store, Inc., Roadie, Marken, MNX Global Logistics and Andlauer Healthcare Group 15. MNX, acquired in 2023, moves time-critical and temperature-sensitive goods, and Andlauer, acquired in 2025, runs specialized cold chain transport for healthcare 92.

UPS acquired both Frigo-Trans and Andlauer in 2025, recording about $1.3 billion of goodwill in Supply Chain Solutions, and it reacquired development area rights for The UPS Store 2. Two contracts tie it to the Postal Service: UPS is its primary air cargo provider, and the Postal Service delivers part of Ground Saver 102.

Beyond the hubs, UPS owns a logistics campus of about 4 million square feet in Louisville and operates about 22 million square feet of healthcare-compliant warehousing 2. Class A shares carry 10 votes each and are held mainly by employees, retirees and the founders' trusts and descendants; listed class B shares carry one vote 2. With 106 million class A and 743 million class B shares issued at the end of 2025, class A carried about 59 percent of the votes (computed) 2.

Vanguard Capital Management reported 7.46 percent of the common stock as of 31 March 2026, and BlackRock 6.1 percent of class B as of 31 March 2025, each as a passive institution 1617.

For the fourth quarter UPS expects revenue of about $25.7 billion and adjusted operating profit of about $3.3 billion 1. For 2026 it now expects about $92.6 billion of revenue, $8.75 billion of adjusted operating profit and $7.28 of adjusted diluted earnings per share 1. Adjusted figures leave out costs the company does not count as underlying performance, such as restructuring, impairments and pension adjustments 1.

The company plans capital spending of about $3.0 billion in 2026, dividends of around $5.4 billion subject to board approval, and $1.3 billion of pension contributions 1. It raised its goal for adjusted free cash flow, cash from operations after investment in property and equipment, to about $6.1 billion 1. The annual report said no further share repurchases were anticipated in 2026 2.

UPS expects nearly $3 billion of savings in 2026 from its network programs, after about $1.8 billion in the first nine months 1. Efficiency Reimagined is not expected to conclude until the fourth quarter of 2027, the company said 1. Its quarterly report says it may identify additional buildings for closure 3.

Abroad, the annual report said a new air hub in the Philippines was slated to open toward the end of 2026 and an expanded Hong Kong hub in 2028 2. At home, a December 2025 agreement has the Postal Service handle final-mile delivery for part of Ground Saver and Mail Innovations volume from 2026 2. The new global operating model took effect on 1 September 2026, and Gutmann stays on as a strategic advisor through March 2027 5.

On labor, the Teamsters agreement expires on 31 July 2028, and an extension ratified on 26 June 2026 makes the airline mechanics' contract amendable on 1 November 2029 23. The pilots' contract has been open for amendment since 1 September 2025 3. UPS also has 18 Boeing 767-300 aircraft on order 2.

Past

United Parcel Service's revenue rose from $62 billion in fiscal 2016 to $89 billion in fiscal 2025, up 4.1% a year, and climbed in 7 of 9 years over that span. The deepest fall was 12% from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2025. Net income remained positive in all 10 filed years. Over the three fiscal years to 2025-12-31, the diluted share count shrank about 1.0% a year. Dividends and buybacks returned about 69% of operating cash flow over those three years. The grade's past tense reads 6.3 of 10. 12

Present

In the fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, United Parcel Service reported revenue of $89 billion and profit of $5.6 billion. Return on equity was about 34 cents of profit for every dollar of shareholders' money. Leverage stood at about 78 cents owed per dollar of assets, and the share count shrank 0.7% over the year. Net margin was 6.3%, ranking in the top 31% of its industry family. Chief Executive Carol B. Tome has held that title since 2020-06-02, 6.4 years, in the top 50% of her industry family. The 20 officers and directors filing in the last fifteen months have a median tenure of 6.2 years, in the top 25%. The grade's present tense reads 5.9 of 10. 21

Future

A quarterly report for the quarter ending 2026-09-30 is due by 2026-11-09. An annual report for the fiscal year ending 2026-12-31 is due by 2027-03-01. Revenue grew -4% a year over the last three filed years against 4.1% over all ten, slowing. Capital spending declined -8.2% a year. Cash of $5.9 billion against debt of $24 billion leaves -24.2% of assets as net cash, in the bottom 19% of its family. Cash from operations less capital spending is 5.4% of revenue, in the top 31%. The grade's future tense reads 3.9 of 10. 312

How the company operates

United Parcel Service reported two lines of business in fiscal 2025: U. S. Domestic Package at $60 billion and International at $19 billion, with the largest line representing 76% of revenue. One of the two lines grew in the latest filed year. By geography in fiscal 2025, the United States accounts for 76% of revenue and outside the United States for 24%. 12

New moves

On 2026-08-31, United Parcel Service filed Form 8-K reporting an officer or director change and investor disclosure under Regulation FD. Between 2026-08-10 and 2026-08-14, the company filed four shelf offerings, selling securities off a previously registered shelf. A quarterly report for the period ended 2026-06-30 filed on 2026-08-05 shows the quarterly money story and trend. 3