General (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2022

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES. These interim financial statements of FedEx Corporation (“FedEx”) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instructions for interim financial information, and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 31, 2022 (“Annual Report”). Significant accounting policies and other disclosures normally provided have been omitted since such items are disclosed in our Annual Report.

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (including normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly our financial position as of August 31, 2022, and the results of our operations for the three-month periods ended August 31, 2022 and 2021, cash flows for the three-month periods ended August 31, 2022 and 2021, and changes in common stockholders’ investment for the three-month periods ended August 31, 2022 and 2021. Operating results for the three-month period ended August 31, 2022 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending May 31, 2023.

Except as otherwise specified, references to years indicate our fiscal year ending May 31, 2023 or ended May 31 of the year referenced and comparisons are to the corresponding period of the prior year.

Revenue Recognition

REVENUE RECOGNITION.

Contract Assets and Liabilities

Contract assets include billed and unbilled amounts resulting from in-transit shipments, as we have an unconditional right to payment only once all performance obligations have been completed (e.g., packages have been delivered). Contract assets are generally classified as current, and the full balance is converted each quarter based on the short-term nature of the transactions. Our contract liabilities consist of advance payments and billings in excess of revenue. The full balance of deferred revenue is converted each quarter based on the short-term nature of the transactions.

Gross contract assets related to in-transit shipments totaled $774 million and $861 million at August 31, 2022 and May 31, 2022, respectively. Contract assets net of deferred unearned revenue were $556 million and $623 million at August 31, 2022 and May 31, 2022, respectively. Contract assets are included within current assets in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets. Contract liabilities related to advance payments from customers were $14 million and $8 million at August 31, 2022 and May 31, 2022, respectively. Contract liabilities are included within current liabilities in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Disaggregation of Revenue

The following table provides revenue by service type (in millions) for the periods ended August 31. This presentation is consistent with how we organize our segments internally for making operating decisions and measuring performance.

	Three Months Ended
	2022		2021
REVENUE BY SERVICE TYPE
FedEx Express segment:
Package:
U.S. overnight box	$	2,316	$	2,170
U.S. overnight envelope		525		482
U.S. deferred		1,287		1,231
Total U.S. domestic package revenue		4,128		3,883
International priority		2,897		2,839
International economy		707		669
Total international export package revenue		3,604		3,508
International domestic(1)		974		1,114
Total package revenue		8,706		8,505
Freight:
U.S.		796		775
International priority		888		873
International economy		377		414
International airfreight		41		47
Total freight revenue		2,102		2,109
Other		319		352
Total FedEx Express segment		11,127		10,966
FedEx Ground segment		8,160		7,677
FedEx Freight segment		2,723		2,251
FedEx Services segment		70		35
Other and eliminations(2)		1,162		1,074
	$	23,242	$	22,003

(1)International domestic revenue relates to our international intra-country operations.

(2)Includes the FedEx Office and Print Services, Inc. (“FedEx Office”), FedEx Logistics, Inc. (“FedEx Logistics”), and FedEx Dataworks (including ShopRunner, Inc.) (“FedEx Dataworks”) operating segments.

Employees Under Collective Bargaining Arrangements

EMPLOYEES UNDER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ARRANGEMENTS. The pilots of Federal Express Corporation (“FedEx Express”), who are a small number of its total employees, are employed under a collective bargaining agreement that took effect on November 2, 2015, and became amendable in November 2021. Bargaining for a successor agreement began in May 2021 and continues. A small number of our other employees are members of unions.

Stock-Based Compensation

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION. We have two types of equity-based compensation: stock options and restricted stock. The key terms of the stock option and restricted stock awards granted under our outstanding incentive stock plans and all financial disclosures about these programs are set forth in our Annual Report.

Our stock-based compensation expense was $68 million for the three-month period ended August 31, 2022 and $69 million for the three-month period ended August 31, 2021. Due to its immateriality, additional disclosures related to stock-based compensation have been excluded from this quarterly report.

Business Realignment and Optimization Costs

BUSINESS REALIGNMENT AND OPTIMIZATION COSTS. In 2021, FedEx Express announced a workforce reduction plan in Europe related to the network integration of TNT Express. The plan will affect approximately 5,000 employees in Europe across operational teams and back-office functions. The execution of the plan is subject to a works council consultation process that will occur through 2023 in accordance with local country processes and regulations.

We incurred costs associated with our business realignment activities of $14 million ($11 million, net of tax, or $0.04 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2023. We recognized $67 million ($52 million, net of tax, or $0.19 per diluted share) of costs under this program in the first quarter of 2022. These costs are related to certain employee severance arrangements. Payments under this program totaled approximately $46 million in the first quarter of 2023. We expect the pre-tax cost of our business realignment activities to be approximately $420 million through 2023. The actual amount and timing of business realignment costs and related cost savings resulting from the workforce reduction plan are dependent on local country consultation processes and regulations and negotiated social plans and may differ from our current expectation and estimates.

In the first quarter of 2023, FedEx announced a comprehensive program to improve the company’s long-term profitability. This program includes a business optimization plan to drive efficiency among our transportation segments and lower our overhead and support costs. We plan to consolidate our sortation facilities and equipment, reduce pickup and delivery routes, and optimize our enterprise linehaul network by moving beyond discrete collaboration to an end-to-end optimization.

We incurred costs associated with our business optimization activities of $24 million ($19 million, net of tax, or $0.07 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2023. These costs are related to consulting services and are included in Corporate, other, and eliminations. We expect the pre-tax cost of our business optimization activities to be approximately $2.0 billion through 2025.

For additional information about the business realignment and optimization costs, see the section titled “Business Realignment and Optimization Costs” included in Item 2 of this Form 10-Q (“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Results of Operations and Financial Condition”).

Derivative Financial Instruments

DERIVATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS. Our risk management strategy includes the select use of derivative instruments to reduce the effects of volatility in foreign currency exchange exposure on operating results and cash flows. In accordance with our risk management policies, we do not hold or issue derivative instruments for trading or speculative purposes. All derivative instruments are recognized in the financial statements at fair value, regardless of the purpose or intent for holding them.

When we become a party to a derivative instrument and intend to apply hedge accounting, we formally document the hedge relationship and the risk management objective for undertaking the hedge, which includes designating the instrument for financial reporting purposes as a fair value hedge, a cash flow hedge, or a net investment hedge.

If a derivative is designated as a cash flow hedge, the entire change in the fair value of the hedging instrument included in the assessment of hedge effectiveness is recorded in other comprehensive income. For net investment hedges, the entire change in the fair value is recorded in other comprehensive income. Any portion of a change in the fair value of a derivative that is considered to be ineffective, along with the change in fair value of any derivatives not designated in a hedging relationship, is immediately recognized in the income statement. We do not have any derivatives designated as a cash flow hedge for any period presented. As of August 31, 2022, we had €93 million of debt designated as a net investment hedge to reduce the volatility of the U.S. dollar value of a portion of our net investment in a euro-denominated consolidated subsidiary. As of August 31, 2022, the hedge remains effective.

Recent Accounting Guidance

RECENT ACCOUNTING GUIDANCE. New accounting rules and disclosure requirements can significantly affect our reported results and the comparability of our financial statements. We believe the following new accounting guidance is relevant to the readers of our financial statements.

New Accounting Standards and Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted

In March 2020, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848), which provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying accounting principles generally accepted in the United States to existing contracts, hedging relationships, and other transactions affected by reference rate reform. The amendments apply only to contracts and hedging relationships that reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) or another reference rate to be discontinued because of reference rate reform. The guidance was effective upon issuance and can generally be applied through December 31, 2022. While there has been no material effect to our financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows from reference rate reform as of August 31, 2022, we continue to monitor our contracts and transactions for potential application of this ASU.

In November 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-10, Government Assistance (Topic 832), which requires annual disclosures that increase the transparency of transactions involving government grants, including (1) the types of transactions, (2) the accounting for those transactions, and (3) the effect of those transactions on an entity’s financial statements. The adoption of this standard did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

In June 2022, the FASB issued ASU 2022-03, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Fair Value Measurement of Equity Securities Subject to Contractual Sale Restrictions, which clarifies the guidance of measuring the fair value of equity securities subject to contractual restrictions that prohibit the sale of the equity securities. The guidance will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023 and interim periods within those fiscal years. We are assessing the impact of this new standard on our consolidated statements.

Equity Investments

EQUITY INVESTMENTS. Equity investments in private companies for which we do not have the ability to exercise significant influence are accounted for at cost, with adjustments for observable changes in prices or impairments, and are classified as “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets with adjustments recognized in “Other (expense) income, net” on our consolidated statements of income. Each reporting period, we perform a qualitative assessment to evaluate whether the investment is impaired. Our assessment includes a review of available recent operating results and trends, recent sales/acquisitions of the investee securities, and other publicly available data. If the investment is impaired, we write it down to its estimated fair value.

Equity investments that have readily determinable fair values, including investments for which we have elected the fair value option, are included in “Other assets” on our consolidated balance sheets and measured at fair value with changes recognized in “Other (expense) income, net” on our consolidated statements of income.

As of August 31, 2022, these investments were not material to our financial position or results of operations.

Treasury Shares

TREASURY SHARES. In December 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program of up to $5 billion of FedEx common stock. We did not repurchase any shares of FedEx common stock during the first quarter of 2023. As of August 31, 2022, $4.1 billion remained available to use for repurchases under the program.

Dividend Declared per Common Share

DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE. On August 12, 2022, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $1.15 per share of common stock. The dividend will be paid on October 3, 2022 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on September 2, 2022. Each quarterly dividend payment is subject to review and approval by our Board of Directors, and we evaluate our dividend payment amount on an annual basis. There are no material restrictions on our ability to declare dividends, nor are there any material restrictions on the ability of our subsidiaries to transfer funds to us in the form of cash dividends, loans, or advances.