The WTF Economy Rolls On: UPS Q2 2025 Earnings Highlights

Supply Chain
Written By Rick Watson

The UPS earnings were the wackiest I have seen in some time. Witness these quotes from UPS CEO on the economy:

* "Lowest consumer sentiment on record..."

* "Consumers trading down.." .. so bad?

* "Consumers splurging..." (doom spending?)

* "decreased activity in specific customer segments, particularly within small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and enterprise customers" (bad?)

* "Economy resilient." (not bad?)

* "Consumers for the first time in 3 years spending more on discretionary items - including autos and restaurants" (so.. good?)

As I said, WTF.

On the company:

* Only a slight decline in revenue of 0.8% y/y despite a 7.3% decline in average daily volume. In other words, we already knew Amazon volume wasn't profitable.

* Carol Tome' said a decline in volume was partially caused by "macroeconomic dynamics"... but, but but... Amazon glide down.

But the real kicker:

No forward-looking earnings guidance. In other words, UPS thinks it's a WTF economy too. It's not just me.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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