A.P. Moller-Maersk raised its full-year 2026 profit outlook for the second time this year on Thursday after second-quarter earnings blew past analyst expectations, as elevated container freight rates and stronger cargo volumes offset rising fuel costs and shipping disruptions tied to the conflict around the Strait of Hormuz. Shares in the Copenhagen-listed carrier jumped as much as 8% on the announcement, according to CNBC.
Net profit for the quarter more than doubled to $1.31 billion, up from $639 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 20% to $15.76 billion. EBITDA climbed to $2.99 billion from $2.30 billion, beating analyst consensus by roughly 44%, according to estimates cited by Morgan Stanley Research. The company's Ocean division, its largest by revenue, drove the surprise: divisional EBIT surged to $935 million from $229 million a year earlier as average loaded freight rates rose 21.6% year over year to $2,746 per forty-foot container, and were 32% higher than in the first quarter.
Guidance Raised Again
Maersk now expects full-year underlying EBITDA of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion, up from its prior forecast of $8 billion to $10 billion, and raised its underlying EBIT forecast to $4.5 billion to $6.5 billion from $2 billion to $4 billion, according to the company's second-quarter investor presentation. It is the second upgrade to the 2026 outlook this year, following an earlier increase after a strong first quarter.
Executives pointed to a mix of factors keeping freight rates elevated: continued rerouting of vessels away from the Red Sea and around the Cape of Good Hope because of the wider Middle East conflict, port and inland trucking bottlenecks that have caused congestion at major hubs, and resilient export demand out of China. Those dynamics have added sailing days and tightened available capacity even as global trade volumes have held up better than many forecasters expected earlier in the year.
The second quarter was yet another proof point of the new era of heightened volatility we have entered.
Vincent Clerc, Maersk chief executive
Clerc also pointed to what he described as incredible resilience of demand and of the broader economy, which has kept cargo volumes growing even as rate volatility persists. The company said it continues to target a full return of its vessels through the Suez Canal once conditions allow, a shift that would eventually ease some of the capacity constraints currently supporting rates.
The results add Maersk to a growing list of container carriers reporting outsized profits this year as the industry navigates a rerouted map of global trade lanes. Investors will be watching whether elevated rates persist into the back half of 2026 or begin to normalize as shippers adjust routes and capacity around ongoing Middle East disruptions.
