Executives at GXO Logistics said their transformation strategy is beginning to deliver results after the company reported its strongest commercial quarter in three years and said growth could accelerate into 2027.

During the second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday before the market opened, CEO Patrick Kelleher said the company has moved beyond leadership changes and strategic planning and is now focused on execution, with commercial momentum, artificial intelligence deployments and operational improvements starting to show up in financial results.

“This quarter marks five years since GXO became an independent public company,” Kelleher said. “The foundation established over the past five years combined with new leadership and a new strategic agenda are now translating into results. We’re seeing real momentum build behind our strategy and we’re still in the early innings.”

Greenwich, Connecticut-based GXO Logistics (NYSE: GXO) is one of the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics providers. The company operates more than 970 facilities totaling approximately 200 million square feet and has a global workforce of more than 130,000 people.

GXO released its second-quarter earnings after the market closed on Tuesday.

The company reported second-quarter revenue of $3.4 billion, up 4.3% year over year, but below Wall Street’s forecast of $3.45 billion. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $219 million, and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased to 59 cents, ahead of the 58 cents expected by analysts. GXO generated $76 million in operating cash flow and $12 million in free cash flow during the quarter.

Kelleher said about 40% of new business wins came from four strategic verticals GXO has prioritized: aerospace and defense, technology and data centers, industrials and life sciences.

“We’re winning more and we’re winning better,” Kelleher said, pointing to expanded relationships with customers including Nike, PepsiCo, Marks & Spencer, Boeing and Raytheon, as well as a new hyperscaler data center customer.

Executives said North America remains GXO’s largest long-term growth opportunity, and the region is now emerging as the company’s fastest-growing market. Kelleher said commercial changes made over the past year have significantly improved GXO’s performance there, with first-half North American wins increasing 85% from the same period a year earlier. For a contract logistics provider, that kind of pipeline and win-rate improvement matters because the business depends on landing long-term warehouse and fulfillment contracts that can take time to convert into revenue.

Chief Strategy Officer Kristine Kubacki said North America’s sales pipeline grew 34% year over year, helping lift GXO’s overall commercial pipeline back to $2.7 billion only weeks after the quarter ended.

Executives said the company now has more than $1 billion of incremental revenue already secured for 2026 and about $353 million already committed for 2027.

Artificial intelligence was a major theme throughout the call. Kelleher said GXO IQ, the company’s proprietary AI platform, has moved from launch mode into scaled deployment and is expected to reach about 50 facilities by the end of 2026.

The platform is being used to improve demand forecasting, inventory replenishment, labor planning and warehouse picking. GXO officials also expect to deploy about 20,000 robots across its global network this year.

Asked about humanoid robots, Kelleher said GXO is still in the testing phase.

“We have done 45 pilots on humanoids so far,” he said. “We have not achieved ROI on humanoids yet. I think we are a couple of years away from that.”

Chief Financial Officer Mark Suchinski said expanding profitability is now a primary focus. He said investments in standardized operating dashboards, labor management systems, procurement and automation are expected to begin producing measurable margin improvements later this year.

Kelleher said long-term profitability remains a key priority.

“We lag our competitive peers in terms of EBITDA and EBIT performance,” he said. “We’re very focused on closing that gap and then eclipsing the performance of our peers.”

Executives also said the recently acquired Wincanton business remains on track to deliver $60 million in annual run-rate cost synergies by year-end, with about 90% of planned integration actions already completed.

GXO kept its 2026 guidance unchanged, including 4% to 5% organic revenue growth, adjusted EBITDA of $945 million to $965 million, adjusted diluted EPS of $2.95 to $3.15, and free cash flow conversion of 30% to 40%.

GXO Q2 2026 financial highlights

As shippers look for productivity gains and labor efficiencies, GXO executives said automation is becoming an increasingly important competitive advantage for third-party logistics providers.