CluenexLandstar LSTR
Landstar scores average on business quality (4.9 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Landstar does
Landstar System provides truckload transportation and logistics services through an independent agent network. Shippers and businesses pay them to coordinate freight delivery without owning a massive fleet of trucks.Revenue stands at $5.0 billion while the company coordinates shipments across various freight channels. The business navigates a contracting top-line environment with revenue declining 1.6% over the latest period.
- What it does best
Landstar excels at asset-light freight brokerage, maintaining a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.2 while avoiding heavy fleet capital expenditures. Its operating margin of 4.2% trails peer SAIA at 11.1%, but the agent-based model limits fixed overhead during freight downturns.
- The main risk
Top-line contraction presents a persistent threat, with revenue dropping from $7.4 billion in 2022 to $5.0 billion recently. This shrinkage reflects soft freight demand that directly compresses gross profit down to 14.4%.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Gross margin rests at 14.4% and operating margin prints at 4.2%, reflecting low direct asset ownership. Free cash flow margin sits at 13.0%, compressing steadily from prior peak years as revenue scales downward.
The moat relies on an independent agent network that locks in freight brokers and agents through specialized logistics relationships. Sector rank for gross margin sits in the bottom quartile at 5th percentile, limiting pricing power.
Revenue is shrinking at 1.6% annually, dragging growth into the bottom quartile of its sector. Annual revenue dropped from $5.3 billion in 2023 to $5.0 billion recently, showing a clear fading trend from peak shipping cycles.
Debt-to-equity sits at 0.2 with interest coverage of 39.9x, meaning debt costs are a rounding error. Free cash flow reached $176 million, supporting consistent buybacks and dividends while the balance sheet stays rock solid.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on LSTR
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Landstar scores average on the Cluenex quality check (4.9 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat fair, growth slow and financial health strong.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Oct 27, 2026.
See LSTR today
- Today's verdict on LSTR, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Landstar (LSTR)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/lstr/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.