CSX Kicks Off Transportation Earnings Season This Week

CSX Corporation CSX is set to kick of Q2 earnings season for railroad stocks on Tuesday. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from CSX and the rest of the railroad industry this quarter.

Expectations

According to Estimize, Wall Street is looking for EPS of $0.53 from CSX on revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter. If CSX hits that mark, it would represent a 17.7 percent quarter-over-quarter growth in earnings, exactly in-line with Q2 2014’s $0.53 EPS for the company.

Recent History

Over the past two years, CSX’s stock has shown relatively little volatility following its earnings reports. Only one time in the last eight reports has the stock moved greater than 2.0 percent on the day following its earnings release, a 6.8 percent drop following Q4 2013’s earnings.

Following the last eight reports, the stock has reacted positively four times and negatively four times on the day after the reports. The largest positive reaction was only a 1.8 percent move following Q2 2013’s report. Overall, CSX is averaging a -0.87 percent return on the day following its last eight earnings reports.

Looking For A Turnaround

It’s not just CSX shareholders that will be watching closely on Tuesday.

Transport investors are hoping that Q2 numbers will provide a catalyst to reverse the industry’s under-performance in 2015. So far this year, the iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average ETF IYT is down 10.5 percent.

Kansas City Southern KSU reports on July 17, Union Pacific Corp UNP reports on July 23, and Norfolk Southern Corp NSC reports on July 27.