Why Goldman Sachs Suddenly Boosted These 3 Trucking Stocks

Key Points

• A Goldman Sachs analyst just took a new bullish view on these three trucking stocks, looking for a sector breakout. 
• With a double-digit upside across the board, investors can look behind the scenes of this decision. 
• Institutional capital followed, while short sellers also started to leave the scene. 

Most investors develop their own investment ideas so that they understand where and why the price action might impact their portfolio performance once a position is opened. However, sometimes, the market is too quiet or too noisy to always have a clear picture of what is happening behind the scenes. It is okay to look to professionals in times like these for guidance or inspiration.

Now, not everyone is worth listening to in the market, especially in today’s world of easy access to information and authority. That is why today’s signal stands out from the rest, as it is a clear sentiment indicator coming from analysts at Goldman Sachs. This well-known and respected Wall Street bank has a history of being on the right side of history when it comes to calls like these.

Analysts have taken an optimistic view on the transportation sector, specifically for trucking stocks such as Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. NASDAQ: ODFL, Saia Inc. NASDAQ: SAIA, and Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. NYSE: KNX. While these may seem like a contrarian bet in today’s world of tariff uncertainty, there are also very good reasons to start considering these stocks for potential upside coming up.

Analysts Shift to Old Dominion Freight Line

Starting the new month of June 2025, Jordan Alliger from Goldman Sachs decided to take a bold view in a sector that hasn’t gotten too much attention lately. Alliger's latest call rates Old Dominion Freight Line stock as a Buy, along with a valuation of up to $200 per share for the company.

Compared to today’s prices, this call would imply that the stock could rally by as much as 23% from its current level, a feat not typically expected from low-volatility trucking stocks. Now, whether the company can fulfill this potential will depend on the underlying industry dynamics and activity.

Following the ISM Manufacturing PMI index's worst import reading since 2009 in May 2025, additional pressure and demand could be created within the domestic supply chain. This may be a side effect of reduced global trade due to newly implemented tariffs.

Now that both consumers and businesses will need to look inward within the United States to fulfill inventory needs, it makes sense that a stock like Old Dominion Freight Line could be one of the first to see positive price action and financial results, driving even more momentum buyers to potentially pile in as well.

Markets Turn Bullish on Saia Stock

One stock in the sector might be a coincidence, but seeing similar treatment in Saia stock starts to develop a theme that investors might not want to miss in the coming months and quarters. For Saia, Alliger also sees the stock as worthy of a Buy rating, placing a $410 valuation on the company this time.

Considering that Saia stock now trades at only 43% of its 52-week high level, this call would create an implied upside potential of 53.4% to be over twice as big as Old Dominion’s, reiterating the fact that the sector might not only be cheap today but that the current economic theme is going to be the potential catalyst to bring these names higher.

This analyst isn’t alone in his thinking about Saia stock either, as the market is willing to place a premium valuation on the stock as well. By trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of up to 19.6x today, Saia commands a steep premium to the rest of the transportation sector’s average P/E of 13.3x.

While some might call this expensive and unattractive, seasoned traders know that the market will always be willing to pay a premium for the names it believes can outperform peers and the broader S&P 500 index as well.

The Short Buck Stops at Knight-Swift

Discovering all the bullish themes happening behind the scenes of the sector, short sellers positioned in Knight-Swift shares decided to start reducing their exposure before their losses mounted. As of the past month, Knight-Swift’s short interest had come down by as much as 11.1%, showing a clear sign of bearish capitulation in front of these developments.

The same Goldman analyst who saw the upside in the other two trucking names on this list also saw the potential in Knight-Swift, keeping the Buy rating cadence alive for that name to start the month of June 2025, while also placing a price target of up to $65 per share.

Also trading significantly below its 52-week high levels, this stock offers yet another double-digit upside opportunity, with a potential increase of up to 45.3% from today’s prices. Seeing this broader theme might have given institutional buyers at Inspire Investing the reasoning to initiate a stake of up to $654,000 in Knight-Swift stock just the day after this analyst boosted the stock.