Werner Enterprises Inc. (WERN) on Tuesday reported first-quarter net income of $53.7 million.
On a per-share basis, the Omaha-based company said it had net income of 82 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 96 cents per share.
The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 86 cents per share.
The transportation company posted revenue of $764.6 million in the period, which also topped Street forecasts. Seven analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $744.3 million.
Fortune 500 and 1,000 companies in Omaha
Berkshire Hathaway
Fortune rank: No. 6 with revenue of $245.5 billion; ranked the same as last year. First cracked Fortune list in 1989 at No. 205.
History: The holding company of large- and medium-sized firms and investments has grown largely from the singular wisdom of Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett. It started as an investment pool of family and friends in Omaha in the mid-1950s. In 1965, Buffett bought the textile company that gave Berkshire its name. (Ironically, he later called it his worst investment.) His philosophy of buying successful companies with firm niches and keeping leadership in place has achieved returns well in excess of the stock market. The move into insurance was key, as Buffett uses premium reserves available for investment to fund additional purchases. Forbes notes that Berkshire now generates nearly three-quarters of its revenue from its non-financial operating businesses. At 87, Buffett is the oldest CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The company has maintained its offices at Omaha’s Kiewit Plaza since 1962.
Union Pacific
Fortune rank: No. 153 on revenue of $19.5 billion; down four spots from last year. Listed each year since non-manufacturing companies were added to the list in 1995.
History: The company was created by the 1862 Pacific Railway Act, an act of Congress that called for construction of a transcontinental rail line from the Missouri River to the West Coast. The first track was laid out of Omaha in 1865, and U.P. grew into a national icon. Multiple mergers over 150 years helped U.P. amass the nation’s largest rail network, with operations in 23 western states and prime rail connections into Mexico. In 2004, the railroad opened a new 19-story headquarters downtown that serves about 2,900 of the company’s 42,000 employees.
Peter Kiewit Sons’ Inc.
Fortune rank: No. 243 on revenue of $12.4 billion; up 64 spots from last year. Made its Fortune debut in 1991 and since 1998 has been listed every year but one. Is privately held but qualifies for the Fortune list because it publicly reports revenue.
History: Three sons of Peter Kiewit took over their father’s Omaha construction company, with the youngest, also named Peter, credited with turning it into one of the nation’s largest. The company took off while building military installations during World War II and the Cold War. It also built more miles of Interstate system than any other contractor, causing Fortune to dub Peter Kiewit “the Colossus of Roads.” Today, it is one of the largest employee-owned firms in the world and one of only a handful of construction companies big enough to take on billion-dollar projects.
Mutual of Omaha Insurance
Fortune rank: No. 282 on revenue of $11.1 billion; up 18 spots from last year. Made its debut in 1995, dropped off in 2006 and 2007, but solidly on the list since.
History: Got off to a humble start in 1909 as the Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association, initially struggling to attract policyholders. Under the leadership of Creighton medical student C.C. Criss and later V.J. Skutt, it grew and by the 1950s had emerged as a leading health and accident insurer. The name was changed to Mutual of Omaha in 1962, and a year later it became a household name with sponsorship of the popular “Wild Kingdom” TV show. The company rebranded its familiar Native American head logo in 2001, expanded into banking in 2007, and renewed its commitment to its midtown Omaha headquarters by developing the mixed-use Midtown Crossing. In 2020, adopted a new logo that features a lion as a nod to "Wild Kingdom."
Valmont Industries
Fortune rank: No. 766 on revenue of $2.9 billion; up 61 spots from last year.
History: In 1946, Robert B. Daugherty spent nearly his life’s savings — $5,000 — to buy a small manufacturing company on a farm near Valley to build farm elevators. Years later, with the invention of center-pivot irrigation, Valmont found its niche. It then expanded into steel pipe and tubing manufacturing for irrigation systems and other industries. Through acquisitions and new construction, the company grew to be a global player in certain segments of the agriculture, communications and utilities markets. Today, Valmont’s worldwide operations are constantly looking for opportunities to expand its four business sectors: engineered support structures (steel and aluminum poles for traffic lights, street lighting, etc.); utility support structures (poles for electrical transmission lines, etc.); irrigation; and coatings (galvanization).
Werner Enterprises
Fortune rank: No. 871 on revenue of $2.3 billion; up nine spots from last year.
Green Plains Inc.
Fortune rank: No. 977 on revenue of $1.9 billion; down 204 spots from last year.
