fourth-quarter earnings

Norfolk Southern’s fourth-quarter net income moves up 1%

A photograph of a Norfolk Southern train crossing a bridge.

Norfolk Southern’s (NYSE: NSC) fourth-quarter net income rose 1% as an 8% decrease in operating expenses helped to offset a 4% decline in operating revenues.

Norfolk Southern’s (NS) net profit was $671 million, or $2.64 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2020, compared with $666 million, or $2.55 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2019.

Operating revenues were $2.57 billion, compared with $2.69 billion year-over-year. A 2% revenue gain in NS’ metals and construction segment...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/norfolk-southerns-fourth-quarter-net-income-moves-up-1

CN’s fourth-quarter net income grows 14%

A photograph of a CN train.

Canadian railway CN’s (NYSE: CNI) net income for the fourth quarter of 2020 rose 14% year-over-year amid a 2% increase in revenue and a 5% decrease in operating expenses.

Fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted net profit was CA$1.02 billion, or $1.43 adjusted earnings per share, compared with $896 million, or $1.25 adjusted earnings per share, for the fourth quarter of 2019. All figures are in Canadian dollars, and 1 Canadian dollar equals about 79 cents in U.S. dollars.

The 2% increase in revenue to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/cns-fourth-quarter-net-income-grows-14

Kansas City Southern eyes lower operating ratio

A photograph of a Kansas City Southern train in a rail yard.

Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSU) expects to execute the third phase of its version of precision scheduled railroading (PSR) this year in a bid to lower the company’s operating ratio (OR) to the mid-50s by 2022.

PSR is an operational tool that almost all of the Class I railroads deployed to streamline operations. Kansas City Southern (KCS) adopted PSR in 2019. Investors use OR to gauge the financial health of a company, with a lower OR implying improved health. OR is a company’s operating...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kansas-city-southern-eyes-lower-operating-ratio

Coronavirus challenges CSX’s fourth quarter

A CSX train travels down train track.

CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) is not only eyeing a volume recovery in 2021 but also a recovery from the coronavirus among its workforce. As COVID-19 cases spiked after Thanksgiving across the U.S., so too did the number of CSX employees contracting the virus. 

The railroad didn’t say during its fourth-quarter 2020 earnings call how many employees have been infected or are in quarantine, but that number is in the “hundreds,” according to CSX President and CEO Jim Foote. 

One reason why the outbreak has been...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/coronavirus-challenges-csxs-fourth-quarter

Kansas City Southern’s Q4 net income rises 30%

A photograph of a Kansas City Southern train traveling through a grassy field.

Kansas City Southern’s (NYSE: KSU) net profit for the fourth quarter of 2020 rose 30% over a year ago despite a 5% decline in revenue.

Fourth-quarter 2020 net income was $165.7 million, or $1.80 per diluted share, compared with $127.2 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2019. 

Revenue totaled $693.4 million, compared with $729.5 million year-over-year. Revenue gains for Kansas City Southern’s (KCS) chemical and petroleum segment and its agricultural and minerals segment...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/kansas-city-southerns-q4-net-income-rises-30

CSX’s Q4 net profit roughly flat with last year

A CSX train sits next to a train consisting of tank cars.

CSX’s (NASDAQ: CSX) fourth-quarter net income slipped 1% amid a 2% decline in revenue, the Eastern U.S. railroad reported Thursday.

Fourth-quarter 2020 net profit was $760 million, or 99 cents per share, compared with $771 million, or 99 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2019. 

(CSX)

CSX said results for the fourth quarter of 2020 included a charge of $48 million, or 5 cents per share after tax, related to the early retirement of debt.

Revenue slipped 2% to $2.83 billion as volume and...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/csxs-q4-net-profit-roughly-flat-with-last-year

Union Pacific says it’s ready to take on more

A photograph of a Union Pacific train traveling through a field.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) has the network capacity to handle any volume rebound in 2021 and even has room to grow, executives said Thursday during the railroad’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

Union Pacific’s (UP) deployment of precision scheduled railroading has created quite a bit of open capacity, President and CEO Lance Fritz said on the earnings call. “Nothing would please us more to have more volume growth to justify an increase” in our budget for capital expenditures. 

UP is planning a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/union-pacific-says-its-ready-to-take-on-more

Impairment charge flattens Union Pacific’s Q4 profit gains

A photograph of a Union Pacific train traveling through a field.

Union Pacific’s (NYSE: UNP) net profit for the fourth quarter of 2020 was on par with the fourth quarter of 2019 amid a $278 million, pretax, noncash impairment charge related to its change of plans for the Brazos yard in Texas.

Union Pacific’s (UP) fourth-quarter net income was $1.4 billion, or $2.05 per diluted share, compared with $1.4 billion, or $2.02 per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Without the impairment charge, UP’s fourth-quarter net profit would have been $1.6 billion,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/impairment-charge-flattens-union-pacifics-q4-profit-gains

Grain, intermodal boost US weekly rail volumes

A photograph of a train in a rail yard.

Higher intermodal and grain volumes boosted U.S. rail traffic last week, with weekly volumes rising nearly 6% compared with the same period last year.

U.S. rail volumes totaled 528,547 carloads and intermodal units, up 5.8% for the week ending Saturday, according to data from the Association of American Railroads.

Carloads slipped 2% to 232,550 carloads amid an 18% drop in coal volumes. Coal traffic represents roughly 25% of overall carload volumes. But grain carloads climbed 42.6% year-over-year...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/grain-intermodal-boost-us-weekly-rail-volumes

Union Pacific expects Q4 OR in mid-50s, details Brazos yard plans

A photograph of three Union Pacific locomotives in a rail yard.

Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) expects an adjusted operating ratio (OR) of 55.6% for the fourth quarter of 2020, the company said in a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.

The preliminary figure comes as the company factors into its calculations a noncash impairment charge of approximately $278 million related to its investments in its Brazos yard in Texas. Prior to the changes, Union Pacific calculated an OR of 61%. 

OR, which is a company’s operating expenses as a...

https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/union-pacific-expects-q4-or-in-mid-50s-details-brazos-yard-plans

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