Investors drove C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. shares down as much as 7 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell more than expected.

The Eden Prairie-based logistics firm, which finds transportation companies to match the needs of shippers, earned 62 cents a share on an adjusted basis. That was 6 cents below Wall Street expectations and a decline of 6 percent from a year ago.

Fourth-quarter net earnings dropped 63.7 percent to $93 million. Revenue was $3.15 billion, up 6.1 percent from a year ago but below the $3.27 billion analysts' had anticipated.

Revenue from truckloads of freight dropped 5.6 percent in the quarter, while truckload shipping volume rose 7 percent, the company said. Net revenue margins on truckload hauling, or the difference between what a shipper pays Robinson and what Robinson pays a freight hauler, declined due to higher costs, the firm said.

Robinson stock closed Tuesday at $58.64, up 91 cents or 1.6 percent. In after-hours trading, it ended down $3.64 to $55.

Steve Alexander