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Heartland Express, Inc. is a holding company incorporated in Nevada, which directly or indirectly owns all of the stock of the following legal entities: Heartland Express, Inc. of Iowa, Heartland Express Services, Inc., Heartland Express Maintenance Services, Inc. (collectively, "Heartland Express"), and Midwest Holding Group, LLC and Millis Transfer, LLC (together, "Millis Transfer"), and Smit…
$15.39
+$0.09 (+0.59%)
EOD Jul 17, 2026
The business is unprofitable at the operating level (-7.13% margin). The thesis depends entirely on whether and when it reaches sustainable profitability.
Revenue declined 23.1% YoY. Margins deteriorated 5.2pp alongside, both lines moving the wrong way.
Free cash flow declined 292% versus the prior year, cash generation momentum has weakened. ROIC dropped from -1.44% to -4.66%, capital efficiency is deteriorating.
Based on TTM earnings · Diluted shares
Profitability & Returns
Revenue (TTM)
$763M
▼ -23.1% YoY
Net Income (TTM)
-$43M
▼ -76.5% YoY
Op. Margin
-6.01%
▼ -5.2pp YoY
ROIC
-3.83%
▼ -3.2pp YoY
Cash Flow & Balance Sheet
FCF (TTM)
-$64M
▼ -292.0% YoY
Op. Cash Flow (TTM)
$87M
▼ -38.1% YoY
Net Debt
$109M
Cash & Equiv.
$44M
5Y CAGR: +4.5%
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Heartland Express (HTLD)'s valuation is best read against its own history, its peers, and the growth its price implies. A high multiple is not the same as overvalued: fast-growing, high-quality businesses can deserve a premium. See the general approach in .
On quality, Heartland Express scores 8/100 on Intrinsiqq's quality scorecard (a lower-quality business on these measures), weighing growth, margins, returns on capital, share count, and balance-sheet strength. It currently yields about 0.5%; see dividend safety for coverage and history. All figures are computed from SEC filings; read the full methodology. This is analysis, not investment advice.
Heartland Express scores 8 out of 100 on Intrinsiqq's quality score, a weighted blend of 6 metrics each scored 0 to 100, which makes it a lower-quality business on these measures. Recent fundamentals include a -6.0% operating margin and a -3.8% return on invested capital. The score weighs revenue and free-cash-flow growth, operating margins, return on invested capital, share-count change, and balance-sheet strength, all computed from SEC filings, not opinion. Because valuation only means something relative to quality, the full metric-by-metric breakdown is on the quality scorecard.
Yes, Heartland Express pays a regular dividend of about $0.08 per share per year (typically in quarterly installments), a yield of roughly 0.5% at the current price. A low headline yield is not the same as a weak dividend: what matters is how well earnings and free cash flow cover the payout and whether it is growing, not the percentage alone. For HTLD's full payout history, growth streak and dividend-safety score, see the dividends tab.
That depends on valuation and quality together, not either alone. you should weigh HTLD's valuation and scores 8/100 on quality (lower-quality). It also yields about 0.5%. A cheap price is only a bargain if the business is durable, and a premium can be justified by genuine quality, so the two questions, "is it cheap?" and "is it good?", only make sense side by side. Read the valuation against the quality scorecard, run the DCF on your own assumptions, and decide for yourself. This is analysis from SEC filings, not investment advice.