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Factors One Should Take Note of Ahead of CSX's Q1 Earnings

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CSX (CSX - Free Report) is scheduled to release its first-quarter 2024 results on Apr 17 after market close.
 
CSX has an impressive earnings surprise history, having outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the preceding four quarters and meeting twice, the average beat being 4.14%.

CSX Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

CSX Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

CSX Corporation price-eps-surprise | CSX Corporation Quote

Let's delve into the factors that are likely to have influenced CSX's performance this earnings season.
 
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CSX's first-quarter 2024 revenues is currently pegged at $3.66 billion, which indicates a 1.18% decline year over year. The top line is likely to have been weighed down by reduced supplemental revenues, a decline in export coal benchmark prices and a decrease in intermodal and trucking volumes. Our estimates for first-quarter Coal and Trucking revenues indicate declines of 10.3% and 8.5% from the year-ago reported figures. However, estimates for coal revenues indicate a rise of 1.7% year over year.
 
Moreover, supply-chain disruptions, including labor and equipment shortages, are expected to have hurt CSX's quarterly performance. Rising fuel expenses have been bothering the company's bottom line. CSX's high capital expenditure is anticipated to have further impeded its bottom line. However, the company's cost-cut approach is expected to have cushioned the bottom line to some extent in the to-be-reported quarter.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model predicts an earnings beat for CSX this time. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat, which is the case here.

CSX has an Earnings ESP of +0.76% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Highlights of Q4

CSX's fourth-quarter 2023 earnings per share of 45 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate. However, the bottom line declined 8.2% year over year. Total revenues of $3.68 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.63 billion. The top line decreased 1.3% year over year due to lower intermodal storage revenues, reduced fuel surcharge, the effect of lower global benchmark coal prices and a decline in trucking revenues.

Other Stocks to Consider

Here are a few other stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector that investors may also want to consider, as our model shows that these, too, have the right combination of elements to beat on their first-quarter 2024 earnings.

 
United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +4.23% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

UAL is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 earnings on Apr 16. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings has been revised 15.87% upward over the last 90 days. UAL has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average beat being 17.84%.

 
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +4.98% and a Zacks Rank #3. WAB is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 earnings on April 24.
 
WAB has an impressive earnings surprise history, having surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the preceding four quarters, the average beat being 6.63%.
 
Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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