Norfolk Southern Corporation’s (NSC) fourth-quarter 2024 earnings of $3.04 per share (excluding 19 cents from non-recurring items) beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.95 and increased 7.4% year over year, owing to lower costs.
Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Railway operating revenues were $3.02 billion in the quarter under review, lagging the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.03 billion. The top line decreased 2% year over year due to weakness across all segments.
Overall volumes increased 3% year over year. Total revenue per unit dipped 4% year over year. Income from railway operations rose 40% year over year to $1.13 billion.
Railway operating expenses declined 16% on a year-over-year basis to $1.89 billion, primarily due to a double-digit decrease in fuel expenses.
Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
NSC’s president and chief executive officer, Mark George, stated, “We closed 2024 with another quarter of solid performance, building on the success of Q3. Our network is running fast; our terminals are more efficient; and service metrics are steady. Our customers are noticing and rewarding us with more business.”
Q4 Segmental Performance of NSC
Merchandise revenues fell 0.4% year over year to $1.84 billion. Actual segmental revenues were lower than our estimate of $1.85 billion. Revenue per unit decreased 1% year over year.
Revenues from Intermodal fell 0.3% year over year to $792 million. Actual segmental revenues were higher than our projection of $775.6 million. While segmental volumes increased 5%, revenue per unit tumbled 5% year over year.
Coal revenues were $390 million, down 9% year over year. Actual segmental revenues lagged our projection of $416.4 million. Coal volumes fell 1% year over year. Revenue per unit declined 9% in the reported quarter.
Liquidity & Buyback
Norfolk Southern exited the fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.64 billion compared with $975 million at the end of the prior quarter. NSC had a long-term debt of $16.6 billion at the fourth-quarter end, almost flat year over year.
The company did not repurchase any shares under its stock repurchase program in 2024.
2025 Guidance
For 2025, NSC expects revenue growth of 3%. Capital expenditure is expected to be around $2.20 billion in 2025. NSC plans to initiate share repurchases beginning in the first quarter of 2025.
NSC’s Zacks Rank and Price Performance
Currently, NSC carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Over the past year, shares of NSC have gained 11% against the industry’s decline of 3.2%.
One Year Price Comparison
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Q4 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 56 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.85 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.76. Earnings increased 44.5% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.
DAL’srevenues of $15.56 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.99 billion and increased 9.4% on a year-over-year basis, driven by strong holiday travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) totaled $14.44 billion, up 5.7% year over year. Passenger revenues, which accounted for 82.4% of total revenues, increased 5% year over year at $12.82 billion.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT) reported fourth-quarter 2024 earnings per share of $1.53, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.62. However, the bottom line increased 4.1% on a year-over-year basis.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $3.15 billion narrowly beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.13 billion but declined 4.8% year over year. The decline was mainly due to lower fuel surcharge revenues and yield pressure in its Intermodal segment.
JBHT’s fourth-quarter 2024 operating revenues of $2.78 billion, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, decreased 2% from the year-ago reported quarter. Total operating income for the reported quarter increased 2% year over year to $207 million.
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) reported solid fourth-quarter 2024results, wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly earnings per share of 97 cents outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 47 cents and improved more than 100% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure exceeded the guided range of 40-50 cents.
ALK’s bottom line benefitted from solid revenue growth, cost and operational performance throughout the quarter and holiday travel periods. ALK also benefitted from a renegotiation of certain interest payments and favorability in its fourth-quarter tax rate.
ALK’s operating revenues of $3.53 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.51 billion. The top line jumped 38.4% year over year, with passenger revenues accounting for 89.9% of the top line and increasing 37% owing to continued recovery in air-travel demand.
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