Norfolk Southern Operating Ratio Improves In Q3, Beats Wall Street Consensus

  • Norfolk Southern Corp NSC reported third-quarter railway operating revenue growth of 14% year-over-year to $2.85 billion, beating the consensus of $2.75 billion. Revenue was driven by a 14% increase in revenue per unit.
  • Sales by segments: Merchandise $1.71 billion (+10% Y/Y), Intermodal $812 million (+16% Y/Y) and Coal $330 million (+32% Y/Y).
  • Total railway operating expense increased by 3% Y/Y to $1.72 billion.
  • EPS improved to $3.06 from $2.22 in 3Q20, beating the consensus of $2.91.
  • Income from railway operations increased by 35% Y/Y to $1.14 billion, and the margin expanded to 39.8%. On a year-over-year adjusted basis, income from railway operations was up 21%.
  • Railway operating ratio was 60.2% in the quarter, an improvement of 630 bps compared to 3Q20.
  • Norfolk Southern generated a YTD operating cash flow of $3.31 billion, compared to $2.77 billion a year ago. It held cash and equivalents of $1.5 billion as of September 30, 2021.
  • FY Outlook: Norfolk Southern expects revenue to grow more than 12% year-over-year (prior view ~9% to ~12% growth) with Intermodal and Merchandise as lead drivers and Operating ratio improvement of 400-440 bps.
  • Price Action: NSC shares traded higher by 2.21% at $293.08 on the last check Wednesday.
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Comments
Loading...
Date
ticker
name
Actual EPS
EPS Surprise
Actual Rev
Rev Surprise
Posted In: EarningsNewsGuidanceBriefs
Benzinga simplifies the market for smarter investing

Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.

Join Now: Free!