Yellow stock rallies more than 12%; trucking company laid off workers, WSJ reports

Yellow Corp.
YELL,
+24.02%
laid off “a large number” of workers on Friday, as the trucking company’s prospects sour following steep debt, fleeing customers and the threat of a Teamsters strike, the Wall Street Journal reported. The layoffs affected Yellow’s sales, business-operations and technology teams, but not its union drivers or freight handlers, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that the company was preparing to file for bankruptcy. The company and the Teamsters union are fighting over a new contract and missed pension and benefit payments, the Journal said, adding that Yellow had halted handling new shipments as its financial situation becomes more difficult. Stephens analyst Jack Atkins, in a note this week, said Yellow “appears to be winding down operations due to the company’s challenged liquidity position and crippling shipment count declines over the past week.” The company on Thursday said it was “exploring opportunities to divest” Yellow Logistics, a third-party logistics broker that it runs. Shares were up 12.7% after hours on Friday.