Analyst Ken Hoexter of Bank of America Securities reiterated a Buy rating on XPO, reducing the price target to $156.00.
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Ken Hoexter has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors that, in his view, support further upside in XPO’s shares despite a slightly softer demand outlook. He acknowledges near-term volume headwinds and trims his 2025–2026 earnings forecasts, but still expects meaningful operating margin expansion versus both XPO’s past performance and its LTL peers. His base case envisions modestly lower tonnage in 2026 yet continued efficiency gains, indicating that profitability can improve even in a muted freight environment and could accelerate if demand strengthens.
Hoexter also highlights structural drivers of margin improvement, particularly early-stage AI initiatives in linehaul optimization, routing, labor deployment, pricing, and sales that are already generating savings and should scale over time. In addition, he anticipates a notable increase in share repurchases in 2026 as capital spending eases, enhancing earnings per share and shareholder returns. On valuation, he believes XPO deserves a premium multiple to most peers, reflecting its improving leverage to margins and cash generation, which underpins his $156 price objective and supports maintaining a Buy rating.
In another report released on December 16, Stifel Nicolaus also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $167.00 price target.
XPO’s price has also changed moderately for the past six months – from $120.620 to $140.920, which is a 16.83% increase.