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Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Up Almost 7% on Q2 Earnings Beat
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Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC - Free Report) gained 6.78% in after-market trading on Jul 25, 2024. The upside was owing to the solid second-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings of $3.06 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.85 and improved 4% year over year.
Railway operating revenues were $3.044 billion in the quarter under review, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.022 billion. The top line increased 2% year over year, with strength across its Merchandise segment.
Overall volumes increased 5%. Total revenue per unit dipped 3% year over year. Income from railway operations increased 96% to $1.131 billion.
Railway operating expenses fell 20% on a year-over-year basis to $1.913 billion. NSC’s operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) decreased to 62.8% in the second quarter from 80.7% in the year-ago quarter due to lower costs and lackluster revenues.
Notably, the second quarter witnessed the impact of the Eastern Ohio incident, which included insurance recoveries that were greater than the costs incurred in the quarter.
Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Merchandise revenues grew 4% year over year to $1.904 billion. Volumes were up 2%, whereas revenue per unit improved 3% year over year.
Revenues from Intermodal plunged 0.4% year over year to $742 million. While segmental volumes increased 8%, revenue per unit tumbled 8%.
Coal revenues came in at $398 million, down 3% year over year. Coal volumes fell 2% year over year. Revenue per unit declined 1% in the reported quarter.
Liquidity & Buyback
Norfolk Southern exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $659 million compared with $652 million at the end of the prior quarter. NSC had a long-term debt of $16.937 billion at the second-quarter end compared with $17.179 billion at the prior-quarter end.
NSC did not repurchase any shares under its stock repurchase program in the second quarter of 2024.
Outlook
Norfolk Southern has lowered its 2024 revenue guidance. NSC now expects 2024 revenues to increase 1% from 2023 actuals, which marks a downside from prior expectations of revenue growth of 3%.
So far this year, shares of NSC have plunged 5.7% compared with the industry’s decline of 4.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 35 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.36 per share, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.37. Earnings decreased 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Apart from high costs, the carrier blamed the discounting pressure at the low end of the market, which hurt its pricing power, for the disappointing performance.
Revenues of $16.65 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.25 billion and increased 6.9% year over year, driven by upbeat air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $15.41 billion, up 5.4% year over year.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT - Free Report) reported disappointing second-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
JBHT’s earnings of $1.32 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 and declined 27% year over year.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $2.93 billionmissed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.03 billion and fell 7% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell 6% year over year.The downfall was owing to a 5% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and a decline in load volume of 25% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), 9% in Truckload (JBT), and 9% in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS). These were partially offset by the 5% revenue growth of Final Mile Services (FMS), primarily driven by new contracts implemented over the past year, and a 5% increase in revenue per load in ICS.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings per share (excluding 18 cents from non-recurring items) of $4.14, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.97. Earnings decreased 17.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Operating revenues of $14.98 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.13 billion. The top line increased 5.7% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 5.2% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 91.2% of the top line) to $13.680 billion. Almost 44,375 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the second quarter, up 5.8% year over year.
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Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Up Almost 7% on Q2 Earnings Beat
Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC - Free Report) gained 6.78% in after-market trading on Jul 25, 2024. The upside was owing to the solid second-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
Quarterly earnings of $3.06 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.85 and improved 4% year over year.
Railway operating revenues were $3.044 billion in the quarter under review, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.022 billion. The top line increased 2% year over year, with strength across its Merchandise segment.
Overall volumes increased 5%. Total revenue per unit dipped 3% year over year. Income from railway operations increased 96% to $1.131 billion.
Railway operating expenses fell 20% on a year-over-year basis to $1.913 billion. NSC’s operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) decreased to 62.8% in the second quarter from 80.7% in the year-ago quarter due to lower costs and lackluster revenues.
Notably, the second quarter witnessed the impact of the Eastern Ohio incident, which included insurance recoveries that were greater than the costs incurred in the quarter.
Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Norfolk Southern Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Norfolk Southern Corporation Quote
Segmental Performance
Merchandise revenues grew 4% year over year to $1.904 billion. Volumes were up 2%, whereas revenue per unit improved 3% year over year.
Revenues from Intermodal plunged 0.4% year over year to $742 million. While segmental volumes increased 8%, revenue per unit tumbled 8%.
Coal revenues came in at $398 million, down 3% year over year. Coal volumes fell 2% year over year. Revenue per unit declined 1% in the reported quarter.
Liquidity & Buyback
Norfolk Southern exited the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $659 million compared with $652 million at the end of the prior quarter. NSC had a long-term debt of $16.937 billion at the second-quarter end compared with $17.179 billion at the prior-quarter end.
NSC did not repurchase any shares under its stock repurchase program in the second quarter of 2024.
Outlook
Norfolk Southern has lowered its 2024 revenue guidance. NSC now expects 2024 revenues to increase 1% from 2023 actuals, which marks a downside from prior expectations of revenue growth of 3%.
Zacks Rank and Price Performance
Currently, NSC carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
So far this year, shares of NSC have plunged 5.7% compared with the industry’s decline of 4.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings (excluding 35 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.36 per share, which marginally missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.37. Earnings decreased 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Apart from high costs, the carrier blamed the discounting pressure at the low end of the market, which hurt its pricing power, for the disappointing performance.
Revenues of $16.65 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $16.25 billion and increased 6.9% year over year, driven by upbeat air travel demand. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) came in at $15.41 billion, up 5.4% year over year.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT - Free Report) reported disappointing second-quarter 2024 results wherein both earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
JBHT’s earnings of $1.32 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 and declined 27% year over year.
JBHT’s total operating revenues of $2.93 billionmissed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.03 billion and fell 7% year over year. Total operating revenues, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell 6% year over year.The downfall was owing to a 5% decrease in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and a decline in load volume of 25% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), 9% in Truckload (JBT), and 9% in Dedicated Contract Services (DCS). These were partially offset by the 5% revenue growth of Final Mile Services (FMS), primarily driven by new contracts implemented over the past year, and a 5% increase in revenue per load in ICS.
United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2024 earnings per share (excluding 18 cents from non-recurring items) of $4.14, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.97. Earnings decreased 17.7% on a year-over-year basis.
Operating revenues of $14.98 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.13 billion. The top line increased 5.7% year over year due to upbeat air-travel demand. This was driven by a 5.2% rise in passenger revenues (which accounted for 91.2% of the top line) to $13.680 billion. Almost 44,375 passengers traveled on UAL flights in the second quarter, up 5.8% year over year.