3 Trucking Stocks Getting Big Analyst Upgrades Now

Key Points

• Analysts seem to have agreed on placing new upside in this one industry, as macro tailwinds align with recent discounts for a smoother ride higher.
• Some institutions are buying these names, and the market is willing to place a premium on them for a reason.
• Investing in transportation could be a lucrative strategy during these changing tariff environments.

When Wall Street analysts decide to take a stance on a stock, investors often benefit from trying to reverse engineer this decision and shift in perspective. However, when the focus is on a group of stocks within the same industry, the chance to profit from these professional opinions becomes too valuable to ignore, which is fortunately happening right now for investors.

As of late July 2025, a group of Wall Street analysts seemed to agree that a few names inside the transportation sector (with a specific focus on trucking) are too cheap to pass up right now, especially considering all of the macro backdrop and future potential growth in today’s economic landscape. With this in mind, today’s list could come in handy for those looking to end their year with some gains.

That being said, stocks like Saia Inc. NASDAQ: SAIA, Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. NASDAQ: ODFL, and XPO Logistics Inc. NYSE: XPO stood out for this group of analysts, not only because of their current discounts to relative 52-week high prices but also because of what they have to offer investors in the coming months of this economy.

Saia Stock Offers the Deepest Discount

On a 52-week high basis, Saia's stock shows investors the widest gap relative to its highs, which matters for two reasons. For the stock to go down further, there would need to be even more unforeseen bearish events than the ones that have already been priced in through this fall, and chances are that most of them are now.

Second, this leaves a major gap to be filled in terms of upside since investors and analysts alike now know where the stock could trade up to in terms of its historical chart, making it a realistic level to revisit if the fundamental narrative calls for it.

This discount, combined with the fact that current trade tariffs may boost domestic production and consumption, makes Saia stock an attractive proposition (especially at this discount). Overall, it is considered a Moderate Buy, with an outlier rating from Citigroup analyst Ariel Rosa, who sees Saia as a Buy valued at $393 per share.

From today’s discount, this means Saia stock could rally by roughly 30%, which is not a common offer for an industry that isn’t known for making big moves in a given year.

An Earnings Sell-Off in Old Dominion Could Be Bought

After Old Dominion stock reported $1.27 in earnings per share (EPS) for its latest quarterly financials, a miss of two cents compared to the Wall Street estimate of $1.29, sent the stock trading lower by 15.4% on the entire month; however, the future looks a lot brighter than this slight miss in EPS.

Wall Street analysts still think that Old Dominion could report $1.71 in EPS for the second quarter of 2026, a significant jump from today’s reported financials, giving the stock enough of a fundamental reason to rally back up to its previous highs.

Speaking of which, now that the stock has traded down to 62% of its 52-week high, it seemed like an “easy win” for Stephens analyst Daniel Imbro to stand out from the pack. With a Hold rating and $167.6 per share consensus valuation, Imbro’s Overweight view and $174 per share price target make him a risk-taker among his peers.

There must be a high level of conviction for this analyst to call for 20% upside in this beaten-down stock, and a good reason could be its exposure to Canadian trade routes. As tariffs on Canadian and American goods are set to go up, Old Dominion's fees could also follow suit, giving investors a reason to lean on this outlier rating.

XPO: A Premium Stock for Smart Money

It appears that XPO has joined the ranks of companies selling off, following a recent quarterly earnings announcement similar to Old Dominion's. However, this time around, it seems some astute buyers were waiting in the wings for such an opportunity.

After a 10% decline in a single week to fall down to 74% of its 52-week high, this deal in trucking seemed too good to pass up by those at STRS Ohio, who justified adding 10.9% to their stakes in XPO logistics stock, bringing their net position to a high of $4.9 million today and giving investors a vote of confidence to lean on.

More than that, investors can see the way broader markets are valuing this stock today as a positive sign moving forward. By trading at a 41.3x price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, XPO commands a premium above the rest of the transportation sector and its average 13.0x P/E multiple.

Usually, markets are willing to overpay for the names they believe can outperform the peer group and the indexes as well. When it comes to XPO, investors can point to the company’s exposure to Canada, similar to Old Dominion’s, although in this case, a broader operation in Europe might also benefit from tariffs and exchange rate volatility.

All told, this gave Wells Fargo analyst Chirstian Wetherbee a reason to place an Overweight rating on XPO stock (above the consensus Moderate Buy) and a new $147 per share price target (also above consensus) to shoot for an implied rally of 23.5% from today’s price, giving investors another high-conviction view in the industry.