A Business at a Glance
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NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP
NSC
$78.9B
Mkt Cap
$350.66
+0.61%
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a current P/E ratio of 27.5, compared to its historical median P/E of 18.3. The stock is currently considered Expensive based on its historical valuation range.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a 5-year average return on invested capital (ROIC) of 11.4%. This indicates solid capital allocation.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a market capitalization of $78.8B. It is classified as a large-cap stock.
Yes, NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) pays a dividend with a trailing twelve-month yield of 1.54%. The company also returns capital through share buybacks, with a buyback yield of 0.37%.
Based on historical P/E analysis, NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) appears expensive. The current P/E of 27.5 is 50% above its historical median of 18.3. The estimated fair value CAGR (P/E method) is 2.3%.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) operates in the Railroads, Line-Haul Operating industry, within the Industrials sector.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) reported annual revenue of $12.2 billion in its most recent fiscal year, based on SEC EDGAR filings.
Norfolk Southern Corporation operates a major freight railroad serving the eastern United States, generating revenue through the transportation of merchandise, intermodal containers, and coal across its network. The company's business model is asset-intensive, built on owned and leased rail infrastructure, locomotives, and rolling stock, with revenue derived from per-unit transportation fees charged to shippers across diverse end-markets including automotive, chemicals, energy, utilities, and consumer goods. Unit economics are characterized by high fixed costs tied to network maintenance and labor, with variable costs including fuel, purchased services, and materials; the company pursues operational efficiency through productivity initiatives focused on fuel management, labor optimization, and network reliability to improve operating margins. Distribution occurs through direct customer relationships and commercial partnerships, with the company maintaining strategic focus on service quality, on-time delivery, and pricing discipline to capture market share. Competitive differentiation rests on network coverage, operational reliability, safety performance, and the ability to serve customers across multiple commodity segments, with particular strength in serving the eastern U.S. industrial base and port connectivity. The customer base spans large industrial shippers, automotive manufacturers, chemical producers, utilities, and intermodal operators, with geographic footprint concentrated in the eastern United States including key markets such as the Marcellus/Utica energy region and major automotive production centers.
【Cost discipline amid uncertainty】 Management remains focused on maintaining cost discipline and operational efficiency despite near-term macroeconomic headwinds and competitive pressures. The company expects to navigate a mixed merchandise market outlook with vehicle production challenged by affordability concerns and tariff uncertainty, while utility coal demand remains supported by strong electricity generation demand in its service area. Intermodal volumes are expected to remain soft due to tariff volatility and enhanced competitive activity, though management is pursuing productivity initiatives and pricing discipline to offset revenue pressures. Capital spending is being reduced to $1.9 billion to reflect a prudent approach while maintaining network reliability and safety, and the company is strategically recruiting and renewing its workforce across 90 crew bases to support anticipated growth opportunities.
| Metric | Target | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Operating cost envelope | $8.2 billion–$8.4 billion | FY2026 |
| Capital spending | $1.9 billion | FY2026 |
| Cost takeout savings commitment | $150 million | FY2026 |
Operating cost envelope (FY2026): “For the year ahead, we expect our cost base to be in the range of $8.2-$8.4 billion, with an ability to accommodate a variety of volume growth scenarios within this cost envelope.”
Capital spending (FY2026): “We are also reducing capital spending by nearly $300 million to $1.9 billion, reflecting a prudent approach in this environment while still supporting the reliability and safety of the network.”
Cost takeout savings commitment (FY2026): “we are once again raising our 2026 cost takeout savings commitment from $100 million to $150 million, bringing our three-year cumulative total cost takeout to approximately $650 million.”
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, Q4 FY2024 Earnings Call
| Metric | TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 12.2B | 12.2B | 12.1B | 12.2B | 12.7B | 11.1B |
| Net Income | 2.7B | 2.9B | 2.6B | 1.8B | 3.3B | 3.0B |
| EPS | $11.88 | $12.75 | $11.57 | $8.02 | $13.88 | $12.11 |
| Free Cash Flow | 1.6B | 2.2B | 1.7B | 852M | 2.3B | 2.8B |
| ROIC | 10.2% | 11.2% | 11.0% | 8.0% | 14.0% | 12.9% |
| Gross Margin | - | 77.7% | 74.7% | 63.3% | 73.3% | 78.2% |
| Debt/Equity | 1.08 | 1.11 | 1.22 | 1.37 | 1.22 | 1.04 |
| Dividends/Share | $5.40 | $5.40 | $5.40 | $5.40 | $4.96 | $4.16 |
| Operating Income | 4.1B | 4.4B | 4.1B | 2.9B | 4.8B | 4.4B |
| Operating Margin | 33.5% | 35.8% | 33.6% | 23.5% | 37.7% | 39.9% |
| ROE | 16.9% | 19.2% | 19.3% | 14.3% | 24.8% | 21.1% |
| Shares Outstanding | 225M | 225M | 226M | 227M | 235M | 248M |
| Metric | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income Statement | |||||||||||||
| Revenue | 11.6B | 10.5B | 9.9B | 10.6B | 11.5B | 11.3B | 9.8B | 11.1B | 12.7B | 12.2B | 12.1B | 12.2B | 12.2B |
| Gross Margin | 64.8% | 66.2% | 70.6% | 76.9% | 74.6% | 75.1% | 73.1% | 78.2% | 73.3% | 63.3% | 74.7% | 77.7% | 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 | 2.9B | 2.9B | 2.8B | 3.0B | 2.9B | 2.8B | 2.4B | 2.4B | 2.6B | 2.8B | 2.8B | 2.9B | 2.9B |
| EBIT | 3.6B | 2.9B | 3.0B | 3.5B | 4.0B | 4.0B | 3.0B | 4.4B | 4.8B | 2.9B | 4.1B | 4.4B | 4.1B |
| Op. Margin | 30.8% | 27.4% | 30.4% | 33.4% | 34.6% | 35.3% | 30.7% | 39.9% | 37.7% | 23.5% | 33.6% | 35.8% | 33.5% |
| Net Income | 2.0B | 1.6B | 1.7B | 5.4B | 2.7B | 2.7B | 2.0B | 3.0B | 3.3B | 1.8B | 2.6B | 2.9B | 2.7B |
| Net Margin | 17.2% | 14.7% | 16.8% | 51.2% | 23.2% | 24.1% | 20.5% | 27.0% | 25.6% | 15.0% | 21.6% | 23.6% | 21.9% |
| Non-Recurring | 13M | 55M | 9.0M | 13M | 171M | 42M | 39M | 86M | 82M | 49M | 490M | 253M | 253M |
| Returns on Capital | |||||||||||||
| ROIC | 11.5% | 8.8% | 9.1% | 14.9% | 11.8% | 11.6% | 8.9% | 12.9% | 14.0% | 8.0% | 11.0% | 11.2% | 10.2% |
| ROE | 16.8% | 12.6% | 13.5% | 37.5% | 16.8% | 17.8% | 13.4% | 21.1% | 24.8% | 14.3% | 19.3% | 19.2% | 16.9% |
| ROA | 6.1% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 15.3% | 7.4% | 7.3% | 5.3% | 7.9% | 8.4% | 4.5% | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.9% |
| Cash Flow | |||||||||||||
| Op. Cash Flow | 2.9B | 2.9B | 3.0B | 3.3B | 3.7B | 3.9B | 3.6B | 4.3B | 4.2B | 3.2B | 4.1B | 4.4B | 3.8B |
| Free Cash Flow | 734M | 523M | 1.1B | 1.5B | 1.8B | 1.9B | 2.1B | 2.8B | 2.3B | 852M | 1.7B | 2.2B | 1.6B |
| Owner Earnings | 1.9B | 1.8B | 2.0B | 2.1B | 2.5B | 2.7B | 2.4B | 3.0B | 3.0B | 1.8B | 2.6B | 2.9B | 2.3B |
| CapEx | 2.1B | 2.4B | 1.9B | 1.7B | 2.0B | 2.0B | 1.5B | 1.5B | 1.9B | 2.3B | 2.4B | 2.2B | 2.1B |
| Maint. CapEx | 956M | 1.1B | 1.0B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.3B | 1.4B | 1.4B | 1.4B |
| Growth CapEx | 1.2B | 1.3B | 857M | 664M | 847M | 880M | 340M | 289M | 727M | 1.0B | 1.0B | 811M | 738M |
| D&A | 956M | 1.1B | 1.0B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.1B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.3B | 1.4B | 1.4B | 1.4B |
| CapEx/OCF | 74.3% | 82.0% | 62.2% | 53.0% | 52.4% | 51.9% | 41.1% | 34.5% | 46.1% | 73.2% | 58.8% | 50.5% | 56.9% |
| Capital Allocation | |||||||||||||
| Dividends Paid | 687M | 713M | 695M | 703M | 844M | 949M | 960M | 1.0B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.2B | 1.2B |
| Dividend Yield | 2.8% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 2.4% | 2.3% | 2.2% | 2.2% | 1.7% | 2.2% | 2.6% | 2.3% | 2.1% | 1.5% |
| Share Buybacks | 318M | 1.1B | 803M | 1.0B | 2.8B | 2.1B | 1.4B | 3.4B | 3.1B | 622M | 0 | 534M | 291M |
| Buyback Yield | 1.2% | 5.1% | 3.0% | 2.8% | 7.8% | 4.6% | 2.6% | 5.1% | 5.8% | 1.2% | N/A | 0.8% | 0.4% |
| Stock-Based Comp | 37M | 14M | 42M | 45M | 81M | 76M | 96M | 71M | 48M | 42M | 66M | 64M | 79M |
| Debt Repayment | 645M | 102M | 600M | 702M | 750M | 1.2B | 381M | 584M | 553M | 1.3B | 1.1B | 559M | 559M |
| Balance Sheet | |||||||||||||
| Net Debt | 8.0B | 9.0B | 9.3B | 9.1B | 10.8B | 12.2B | 12.0B | 13.4B | 15.1B | 16.0B | 15.8B | 15.8B | 15.8B |
| Cash & Equiv. | 973M | 1.1B | 956M | 690M | 358M | 580M | 1.1B | 839M | 456M | 1.6B | 1.6B | 1.5B | 1.3B |
| Long-Term Debt | 8.9B | 9.4B | 9.6B | 9.1B | 10.6B | 11.9B | 12.1B | 13.3B | 14.5B | 17.2B | 16.7B | 16.5B | 16.5B |
| Debt/Equity | 0.72 | 0.83 | 0.82 | 0.60 | 0.73 | 0.84 | 0.89 | 1.04 | 1.22 | 1.37 | 1.22 | 1.11 | 1.08 |
| Interest Coverage | 6.6 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 6.6 | 4.8 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| Equity | 12.4B | 12.2B | 12.4B | 16.4B | 15.4B | 15.2B | 14.8B | 13.6B | 12.7B | 12.8B | 14.3B | 15.5B | 15.8B |
| Total Assets | 33.2B | 34.1B | 34.9B | 35.7B | 36.2B | 37.9B | 38.0B | 38.5B | 38.9B | 41.7B | 43.7B | 45.2B | 45.1B |
| Total Liabilities | 20.8B | 22.0B | 22.5B | 19.4B | 20.9B | 22.7B | 23.2B | 24.9B | 26.2B | 28.9B | 29.4B | 29.7B | 29.3B |
| Intangibles | 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 |
| Retained Earnings | 10.3B | 10.2B | 10.4B | 14.2B | 13.4B | 13.2B | 12.9B | 11.6B | 10.7B | 10.7B | 12.1B | 13.2B | 13.5B |
| Working Capital | 998M | 281M | -48M | -396M | -729M | -219M | 158M | -354M | -642M | 639M | -357M | -577M | -311M |
| Current Assets | 2.8B | 2.5B | 2.3B | 2.1B | 1.9B | 2.1B | 2.3B | 2.2B | 2.0B | 3.3B | 3.2B | 3.2B | 3.0B |
| Current Liabilities | 1.8B | 2.2B | 2.3B | 2.5B | 2.6B | 2.3B | 2.2B | 2.5B | 2.6B | 2.6B | 3.5B | 3.8B | 3.3B |
| Per Share Data | |||||||||||||
| EPS | 6.39 | 5.10 | 5.62 | 18.61 | 9.51 | 10.25 | 7.84 | 12.11 | 13.88 | 8.02 | 11.57 | 12.75 | 11.88 |
| Owner EPS | 5.96 | 6.04 | 6.63 | 7.41 | 9.08 | 10.10 | 9.31 | 12.11 | 12.54 | 8.09 | 11.63 | 12.90 | 10.14 |
| Book Value | 39.76 | 40.10 | 41.94 | 56.38 | 54.92 | 57.28 | 57.69 | 55.01 | 54.08 | 56.20 | 63.20 | 69.07 | 70.37 |
| Cash Flow/Share | 9.14 | 9.57 | 10.25 | 11.21 | 13.32 | 14.68 | 14.19 | 17.16 | 17.93 | 13.98 | 17.90 | 19.37 | 18.10 |
| Dividends/Share | 2.22 | 2.36 | 2.36 | 2.44 | 3.04 | 3.60 | 3.76 | 4.16 | 4.96 | 5.40 | 5.40 | 5.40 | 5.40 |
| Shares Out. | 312.1M | 303.9M | 295.9M | 290.2M | 279.7M | 265.1M | 256.4M | 248.0M | 235.4M | 227.4M | 226.4M | 225.1M | 224.6M |
| Valuation | |||||||||||||
| P/E Ratio | 13.6 | 13.5 | 16.0 | 6.6 | 13.4 | 16.8 | 27.1 | 22.1 | 16.5 | 28.1 | 19.8 | 22.7 | 29.5 |
| P/FCF | 37.0 | 40.1 | 23.3 | 23.3 | 20.1 | 24.3 | 25.4 | 23.8 | 23.7 | 60.2 | 31.1 | 30.2 | 48.7 |
| EV/EBIT | 9.6 | 10.0 | 11.4 | 12.5 | 11.8 | 14.3 | 21.8 | 17.6 | 14.2 | 22.9 | 16.3 | 18.3 | 23.1 |
| Price/Book | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 4.9 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 4.2 | 5.0 |
| Price/Sales | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 5.3 | 4.3 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 6.5 |
| FCF Yield | 2.7% | 2.5% | 4.3% | 4.3% | 5.0% | 4.1% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 4.2% | 1.7% | 3.2% | 3.3% | 2.1% |
| Market Cap | 27.3B | 21.0B | 26.8B | 35.7B | 35.8B | 45.6B | 54.5B | 66.3B | 53.8B | 51.4B | 52.0B | 65.3B | 78.8B |
| Avg. Price | 78.56 | 73.72 | 72.18 | 102.65 | 133.76 | 161.77 | 173.75 | 240.21 | 230.18 | 204.81 | 234.86 | 258.04 | 350.66 |
| Year-End Price | 87.11 | 68.99 | 90.18 | 123.02 | 127.76 | 171.83 | 212.40 | 267.29 | 228.44 | 225.43 | 229.31 | 289.68 | 350.66 |
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP passes 5 of 9 quality checks, suggesting mixed fundamentals.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP trades at 27.5x trailing earnings, compared to its 15-year median P/E of 18.3x, suggesting it is currently Expensive relative to its historical range. On a free-cash-flow basis, the stock trades at 36.5x vs a median of 24.1x. The company's 5-year average ROIC is 11.4% with a gross margin of 73.4%. Total shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) is 1.9%. At current prices, the estimated annualized return to fair value is -3.9%.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a net profit margin of 23.6%. This is a strong margin indicating high profitability.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) generated $2.2 billion in free cash flow in its most recent fiscal year. Positive free cash flow supports dividends, buybacks, and debt reduction.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. This indicates moderate leverage.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) reported earnings per share (EPS) of $12.75 in its most recent fiscal year.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a return on equity (ROE) of 19.2%. This indicates the company generates strong returns for shareholders.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a 5-year average gross margin of 73.4%. This high margin suggests strong pricing power and a potential competitive moat.
The Ledger Terminal provides 19 years of financial data for NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC), sourced directly from SEC EDGAR filings. This includes income statements, balance sheets, cash flow statements, and key financial ratios.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has a book value per share of $69.07, based on its most recent annual SEC filing.
Based on recent SEC filings and earnings disclosures, Management remains focused on maintaining cost discipline and operational efficiency despite near-term macroeconomic headwinds and competitive pressures. The company expects to navigate a mixed merchandise market outlook with vehicle production challenged by affordability concerns and tariff uncertainty, while utility coal demand remains supported by strong electricity generation demand in its service area. Intermodal volumes are expected to remain soft due to tariff volatility and enhanced competitive activity, though management is pursuing productivity initiatives and pricing discipline to offset revenue pressures. Capital spending is being reduced to $1.9 billion to reflect a prudent approach while maintaining network reliability and safety, and the company is strategically recruiting and renewing its workforce across 90 crew bases to support anticipated growth opportunities.
Based on recent SEC filings and earnings calls, NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP (NSC) has provided the following forward guidance: Operating cost envelope: $8.2 billion–$8.4 billion (FY2026); Capital spending: $1.9 billion (FY2026); Cost takeout savings commitment: $150 million (FY2026).