A Business at a Glance
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CSX CORP
CSX
$99.9B
Mkt Cap
$53.23
+0.80%
CSX CORP (CSX) has a current P/E ratio of 34.6, compared to its historical median P/E of 17.8. The stock is currently considered Expensive based on its historical valuation range.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a 5-year average return on invested capital (ROIC) of 14.2%. This indicates solid capital allocation.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a market capitalization of $98.9B. It is classified as a large-cap stock.
Yes, CSX CORP (CSX) pays a dividend with a trailing twelve-month yield of 1.00%. The company also returns capital through share buybacks, with a buyback yield of 0.88%.
Based on historical P/E analysis, CSX CORP (CSX) appears expensive. The current P/E of 34.6 is 94% above its historical median of 17.8. The estimated fair value CAGR (P/E method) is 5.8%.
CSX CORP (CSX) operates in the Railroads, Line-Haul Operating industry, within the Industrials sector.
CSX CORP (CSX) reported annual revenue of $14.1 billion in its most recent fiscal year, based on SEC EDGAR filings.
CSX Corporation is a leading North American rail-based freight transportation company operating approximately 20,000 route miles of track east of the Mississippi River, serving 26 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The company generates revenue through four primary business segments: merchandise (41% of volume, 62% of revenue), which includes chemicals, agricultural products, automotive, minerals, forest products, metals, and fertilizers; intermodal (48% of volume, 15% of revenue), combining rail economics with truck flexibility through approximately 30 terminals; coal (11% of volume, 13% of revenue), serving power plants, steel manufacturers, and export facilities; and trucking (6% of revenue), primarily through Quality Carriers, the largest bulk liquid chemicals truck transportation provider in North America. The company's business model emphasizes scheduled service with asset optimization and employee engagement, generating strong free cash flow while competing on service reliability and price against other railroads, motor carriers, and alternative transportation modes. CSX maintains competitive advantages through its extensive port access (over 70 ocean, river, and lake terminals), interconnected network with approximately 250 short-line and regional railroads, and specialized subsidiaries including CSX Intermodal Terminals, TDSI for automotive distribution, and TRANSFLO for rail-to-truck transfers, serving manufacturers, industrial producers, retailers, and energy companies across diverse geographies and end-markets.
【Margin expansion and volume growth】 Management expects year-over-year operating margin expansion of 200 to 300 basis points in 2026, with results trending toward the high end of that range, driven by workforce optimization, discretionary expense management, and efficiency initiatives. The company anticipates mid-single-digit revenue growth for the full year, with fuel-related revenue contributing meaningfully as diesel prices remain elevated, while volume growth is expected to be modest reflecting flat industrial production assumptions and a challenging near-term macroeconomic environment. Industrial development projects are expected to contribute significantly, with approximately 100 projects entering service in 2026 projected to deliver roughly 50% more volume at full ramp than the prior year's 85 projects, and the Howard Street Tunnel double-stack capability is expected to open in the second quarter of 2026, creating new market opportunities and cost reductions. Capital spending is planned to remain below $2.4 billion with no major construction projects on the horizon following completion of the Blue Ridge Subdivision, positioning the company for strong free cash flow growth of more than 60% compared to 2025.
| Metric | Target | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | mid-single digits | FY2026 |
| Operating margin expansion | 200 to 300 basis points, trending toward high end | FY2026 |
| Capital spending | below $2.4 billion | FY2026 |
| Free cash flow growth | more than 60% | FY2026 vs FY2025 |
| Industrial development projects | approximately 100 projects | FY2026 |
Revenue growth (FY2026): “we now expect full-year revenue growth in the mid-single digits versus low single digits previously”
Operating margin expansion (FY2026): “we will anticipate year-over-year operating margin expansion of 200 to 300 basis points, but we now expect results to trend toward the high end of that range”
Capital spending (FY2026): “We still expect total 2026 capital spending to be below $2.4 billion”
Free cash flow growth (FY2026 vs FY2025): “we now anticipate free cash flow to grow by more than 60% compared to 2025”
Industrial development projects (FY2026): “For the full year, we expect approximately 100 projects to enter service”
Generated solely from the company's own reports listed below — not from third-party data. Hallucination risk is low. · Sources: 10-K, Q4 FY2025 Earnings Call, Q3 FY2025 Earnings Call, Q2 FY2025 Earnings Call, Q1 FY2025 Earnings Call
| Metric | TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 14.2B | 14.1B | 14.5B | 14.7B | 14.9B | 12.5B |
| Net Income | 3.0B | 2.9B | 3.5B | 3.7B | 4.1B | 3.8B |
| EPS | $1.64 | $1.54 | $1.79 | $1.82 | $1.92 | $1.68 |
| Free Cash Flow | 1.9B | 1.7B | 2.7B | 3.3B | 3.4B | 3.3B |
| ROIC | 11.6% | 11.2% | 13.4% | 14.4% | 16.2% | 15.6% |
| Gross Margin | - | 73.1% | 75.0% | 74.8% | 74.6% | 77.0% |
| Debt/Equity | 1.39 | 1.48 | 1.52 | 1.59 | 1.49 | 1.26 |
| Dividends/Share | $0.53 | $0.52 | $0.48 | $0.44 | $0.40 | $0.37 |
| Operating Income | 4.7B | 4.5B | 5.2B | 5.5B | 6.0B | 5.6B |
| Operating Margin | 33.4% | 32.1% | 36.1% | 37.5% | 40.1% | 44.7% |
| ROE | 22.5% | 22.5% | 28.3% | 30.0% | 31.7% | 28.5% |
| Shares Outstanding | 1,858M | 1,876M | 1,939M | 2,015M | 2,143M | 2,251M |
| Metric | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Statement | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 12.7B | 11.8B | 11.1B | 11.4B | 12.3B | 11.9B | 10.6B | 12.5B | 14.9B | 14.7B | 14.5B | 14.1B | 14.2B |
| Gross Margin | 68.6% | 69.3% | 70.1% | 74.7% | 78.2% | 75.5% | 76.0% | 77.0% | 74.6% | 74.8% | 75.0% | 73.1% | N/A |
| R&D | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| SG&A | 3.4B | 3.3B | 3.1B | 2.9B | 2.7B | 2.6B | 2.3B | 2.5B | 2.9B | 3.1B | 3.2B | 3.3B | 3.3B |
| EBIT | 3.6B | 3.6B | 3.4B | 3.7B | 4.9B | 5.0B | 4.4B | 5.6B | 6.0B | 5.5B | 5.2B | 4.5B | 4.7B |
| Op. Margin | 28.5% | 30.3% | 30.8% | 32.6% | 39.7% | 41.6% | 41.2% | 44.7% | 40.1% | 37.5% | 36.1% | 32.1% | 33.4% |
| Net Income | 1.9B | 2.0B | 1.7B | 5.5B | 3.3B | 3.3B | 2.8B | 3.8B | 4.1B | 3.7B | 3.5B | 2.9B | 3.0B |
| Net Margin | 15.2% | 16.7% | 15.5% | 48.0% | 27.0% | 27.9% | 26.1% | 30.2% | 27.7% | 25.0% | 23.9% | 20.5% | 21.6% |
| Non-Recurring | 50M | 90M | 128M | 283M | 178M | 159M | 43M | 456M | 238M | 34M | 119M | 181M | 181M |
| Returns on Capital | |||||||||||||
| ROIC | 11.7% | 11.0% | 10.0% | 15.5% | 14.3% | 14.5% | 12.5% | 15.6% | 16.2% | 14.4% | 13.4% | 11.2% | 11.6% |
| ROE | 17.8% | 17.2% | 14.7% | 41.4% | 24.2% | 27.3% | 22.1% | 28.5% | 31.7% | 30.0% | 28.3% | 22.5% | 22.5% |
| ROA | 5.9% | 5.8% | 4.9% | 15.4% | 9.1% | 8.9% | 7.1% | 9.4% | 10.0% | 8.7% | 8.2% | 6.7% | 6.9% |
| Cash Flow | |||||||||||||
| Op. Cash Flow | 3.3B | 3.4B | 3.0B | 3.5B | 4.6B | 4.8B | 4.3B | 5.1B | 5.5B | 5.5B | 5.2B | 4.6B | 4.6B |
| Free Cash Flow | 894M | 808M | 643M | 1.4B | 2.9B | 3.2B | 2.6B | 3.3B | 3.4B | 3.3B | 2.7B | 1.7B | 1.9B |
| Owner Earnings | 2.2B | 2.2B | 1.7B | 2.1B | 3.3B | 3.4B | 2.9B | 3.6B | 4.0B | 3.8B | 3.5B | 2.9B | 2.9B |
| CapEx | 2.4B | 2.6B | 2.4B | 2.0B | 1.7B | 1.7B | 1.6B | 1.8B | 2.1B | 2.3B | 2.5B | 2.9B | 2.7B |
| Maint. CapEx | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.4B | 1.4B | 1.5B | 1.6B | 1.7B | 1.7B | 1.7B |
| Growth CapEx | 1.3B | 1.4B | 1.1B | 725M | 414M | 308M | 243M | 371M | 611M | 650M | 871M | 1.2B | 1.1B |
| D&A | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.3B | 1.4B | 1.4B | 1.5B | 1.6B | 1.7B | 1.7B | 1.7B |
| CapEx/OCF | 73.3% | 76.0% | 78.9% | 58.8% | 37.6% | 34.2% | 38.1% | 35.1% | 38.2% | 40.9% | 48.2% | 62.9% | 58.9% |
| Capital Allocation | |||||||||||||
| Dividends Paid | 629M | 686M | 680M | 708M | 751M | 763M | 797M | 839M | 852M | 882M | 930M | 972M | 987M |
| Dividend Yield | 2.5% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 1.7% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 1.5% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 1.0% |
| Share Buybacks | 517M | 804M | 1.1B | 2.0B | 4.7B | 3.4B | 867M | 2.9B | 4.7B | 3.5B | 2.2B | 1.4B | 867M |
| Buyback Yield | 1.7% | 3.7% | 3.5% | 4.4% | 9.6% | 6.3% | 1.3% | 3.6% | 7.5% | 5.1% | 3.6% | 2.0% | 0.9% |
| Stock-Based Comp | 33M | 12M | 37M | 89M | 51M | 74M | 29M | 107M | 74M | 60M | 40M | 54M | 53M |
| Debt Repayment | 933M | 229M | 1.4B | 333M | 19M | 518M | 745M | 426M | 186M | 153M | 558M | 613M | 613M |
| Balance Sheet | |||||||||||||
| Net Debt | 8.8B | 9.1B | 10.3B | 11.4B | 13.6B | 14.8B | 14.1B | 14.6B | 16.5B | 17.7B | 18.1B | 18.7B | 17.8B |
| Cash & Equiv. | 669M | 628M | 603M | 401M | 858M | 958M | 3.1B | 2.2B | 2.0B | 1.4B | 933M | 670M | 1.1B |
| Long-Term Debt | 9.5B | 10.5B | 11.0B | 11.8B | 14.7B | 16.0B | 16.3B | 16.2B | 17.9B | 18.0B | 17.9B | 18.2B | 18.2B |
| Debt/Equity | 0.87 | 0.90 | 0.97 | 0.80 | 1.17 | 1.42 | 1.31 | 1.26 | 1.49 | 1.59 | 1.52 | 1.48 | 1.39 |
| Interest Coverage | 6.6 | 6.6 | 5.9 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 6.7 | 5.8 | 7.7 | 8.0 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 5.4 | 5.6 |
| Equity | 11.2B | 11.7B | 11.7B | 14.7B | 12.6B | 11.9B | 13.1B | 13.5B | 12.5B | 12.0B | 12.5B | 13.2B | 13.6B |
| Total Assets | 33.1B | 34.7B | 35.4B | 35.7B | 36.7B | 38.3B | 39.8B | 40.5B | 41.7B | 42.2B | 42.8B | 43.7B | 44.2B |
| Total Liabilities | 21.9B | 23.1B | 23.7B | 21.0B | 24.1B | 26.4B | 26.7B | 27.0B | 29.2B | 30.2B | 30.3B | 30.5B | 30.7B |
| Intangibles | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 0 | 175M | 183M | 181M | 194M | 187M | 0 |
| Retained Earnings | 10.7B | 11.2B | 11.3B | 14.1B | 12.2B | 11.4B | 11.3B | 11.6B | 10.2B | 9.6B | 10.0B | 10.6B | 10.9B |
| Working Capital | 465M | 888M | 447M | 21M | 650M | 1.1B | 2.4B | 1.6B | 1.4B | 136M | -456M | -583M | -110M |
| Current Assets | 2.6B | 2.8B | 2.5B | 1.9B | 2.6B | 3.3B | 4.4B | 3.9B | 3.8B | 3.4B | 2.8B | 2.5B | 3.1B |
| Current Liabilities | 2.1B | 2.0B | 2.0B | 1.9B | 1.9B | 2.2B | 2.0B | 2.2B | 2.4B | 3.2B | 3.3B | 3.1B | 3.2B |
| Per Share Data | |||||||||||||
| EPS | 0.64 | 0.67 | 0.60 | 2.00 | 1.28 | 0.46 | 1.21 | 1.68 | 1.92 | 1.82 | 1.79 | 1.54 | 1.64 |
| Owner EPS | 0.72 | 0.73 | 0.60 | 0.75 | 1.26 | 0.48 | 1.25 | 1.59 | 1.84 | 1.91 | 1.83 | 1.53 | 1.56 |
| Book Value | 3.71 | 3.95 | 4.12 | 5.37 | 4.87 | 1.65 | 5.73 | 5.98 | 5.82 | 5.95 | 6.45 | 7.02 | 7.31 |
| Cash Flow/Share | 1.11 | 1.14 | 1.07 | 1.27 | 1.80 | 0.67 | 1.86 | 2.27 | 2.58 | 2.74 | 2.71 | 2.46 | 2.54 |
| Dividends/Share | 0.21 | 0.23 | 0.24 | 0.26 | 0.29 | 0.10 | 0.35 | 0.37 | 0.40 | 0.44 | 0.48 | 0.52 | 0.53 |
| Shares Out. | 3.0B | 3.0B | 2.8B | 2.7B | 2.6B | 7.2B | 2.3B | 2.3B | 2.1B | 2.0B | 1.9B | 1.9B | 1.9B |
| Valuation | |||||||||||||
| P/E Ratio | 16.0 | 11.1 | 17.8 | 8.2 | 14.7 | 16.1 | 23.5 | 21.0 | 15.3 | 18.5 | 17.8 | 23.7 | 32.5 |
| P/FCF | 34.6 | 27.1 | 47.4 | 31.4 | 16.8 | 50.3 | 24.4 | 24.0 | 18.5 | 20.8 | 22.7 | 40.0 | 51.9 |
| EV/EBIT | 11.0 | 8.7 | 12.1 | 15.2 | 12.8 | 13.7 | 18.1 | 16.7 | N/A | 15.5 | 15.2 | 19.3 | 24.6 |
| Price/Book | 2.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 7.3 |
| Price/Sales | 2.0 | 2.2 | 2.1 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 7.0 |
| FCF Yield | 2.9% | 3.7% | 2.1% | 3.2% | 6.0% | 6.0% | 4.1% | 4.2% | 5.4% | 4.8% | 4.4% | 2.5% | 1.9% |
| Market Cap | 30.9B | 21.9B | 30.5B | 45.0B | 48.5B | 53.5B | 64.9B | 79.4B | 63.0B | 67.8B | 61.7B | 68.5B | 98.9B |
| Avg. Price | 8.52 | 8.91 | 8.14 | 14.88 | 19.40 | 21.85 | 22.84 | 30.57 | 30.66 | 30.22 | 33.76 | 32.57 | 53.23 |
| Year-End Price | 10.27 | 7.43 | 10.73 | 16.41 | 18.77 | 22.33 | 28.16 | 35.26 | 29.43 | 33.62 | 31.84 | 36.50 | 53.23 |
CSX CORP passes 3 of 9 quality checks, indicating weak fundamentals.
CSX CORP trades at 34.6x trailing earnings, compared to its 15-year median P/E of 17.8x, suggesting it is currently Expensive relative to its historical range. On a free-cash-flow basis, the stock trades at 57.9x vs a median of 24.2x. The company's 5-year average ROIC is 14.2% with a gross margin of 74.9%. Total shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) is 1.9%. At current prices, the estimated annualized return to fair value is +2.2%.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a net profit margin of 20.5%. This is a strong margin indicating high profitability.
CSX CORP (CSX) generated $1.7 billion in free cash flow in its most recent fiscal year. Positive free cash flow supports dividends, buybacks, and debt reduction.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. This indicates moderate leverage.
CSX CORP (CSX) reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.54 in its most recent fiscal year.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a return on equity (ROE) of 22.5%. This indicates the company generates strong returns for shareholders.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a 5-year average gross margin of 74.9%. This high margin suggests strong pricing power and a potential competitive moat.
The Ledger Terminal provides 19 years of financial data for CSX CORP (CSX), sourced directly from SEC EDGAR filings. This includes income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and key financial ratios.
CSX CORP (CSX) has a book value per share of $7.02, based on its most recent annual SEC filing.
Based on recent SEC filings and earnings disclosures, Management expects year-over-year operating margin expansion of 200 to 300 basis points in 2026, with results trending toward the high end of that range, driven by workforce optimization, discretionary expense management, and efficiency initiatives. The company anticipates mid-single-digit revenue growth for the full year, with fuel-related revenue contributing meaningfully as diesel prices remain elevated, while volume growth is expected to be modest reflecting flat industrial production assumptions and a challenging near-term macroeconomic environment. Industrial development projects are expected to contribute significantly, with approximately 100 projects entering service in 2026 projected to deliver roughly 50% more volume at full ramp than the prior year's 85 projects, and the Howard Street Tunnel double-stack capability is expected to open in the second quarter of 2026, creating new market opportunities and cost reductions. Capital spending is planned to remain below $2.4 billion with no major construction projects on the horizon following completion of the Blue Ridge Subdivision, positioning the company for strong free cash flow growth of more than 60% compared to 2025.
Based on recent SEC filings and earnings calls, CSX CORP (CSX) has provided the following forward guidance: Revenue growth: mid-single digits (FY2026); Operating margin expansion: 200 to 300 basis points, trending toward high end (FY2026); Capital spending: below $2.4 billion (FY2026); Free cash flow growth: more than 60% (FY2026 vs FY2025); Industrial development projects: approximately 100 projects (FY2026).