CSX Q3 Earnings Beat, Revenues Lag Estimates, Both Down Y/Y

CSX Corporation CSX reported mixed third-quarter 2025 results wherein its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but revenues missed the same. Quarterly earnings per share of 44 cents on an adjusted basis beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 42 cents but decreased 4.3% on a year-over-year basis on the back of lower revenues.Total revenues of $3.59 billion narrowly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate and declined 1% year over year. The downside was owing to lower export coal prices and a decline in merchandise volume. These were partially offset by higher merchandise pricing, an increase in other revenues and growth in intermodal volume.Third-quarter adjusted operating income decreased significantly year over year to $1.25 billion. CSX’s adjusted operating margin during the September quarter was 34.9%. Total volumes inched up 1% year over year.CSX Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise CSX Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CSX Corporation QuoteQ3 Segmental Performance of CSXMerchandise revenues fell 1% year over year to $2.21 billion in the reported quarter, lower than our estimate of $2.29 billion. Merchandise volumes fell 1% year over year to $660 million. Segmental revenue per unit remained flat year over year.Intermodal revenues increased 4% year over year to $527 million, higher than our estimate of $495 million. Segmental volumes increased 5% while revenue per unit decreased 2% year over year.Coal revenues plummeted 11% year over year to $490 million in the reported quarter, higher than our estimate of $481.6 million. Coal volumes decreased 3% year over year, while segmental revenue per unit fell 9%.Trucking revenues totaled $207 million (below our estimate of $224 million), down 3% year over year. Other revenues grew 38% year over year to $155 million (above our estimate of $103.1 million) in the reported quarter. Liquidity CSX exited the third quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $602 million compared with $933 million at the end of 2024. Long-term debt of $18.5 billion remained flat sequentially.2025 Guidance of CSXFor 2025, CSX still expects total volume growth.CSX will continue to focus on operational excellence, labor productivity and efficiency initiatives. Capital expenditures are expected to be $2.5 billion this year, excluding hurricane rebuild spending.Currently, CSX carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Q3 Performances of Other Transportation CompaniesDelta Air Lines DAL reported third-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 46 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.71 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.52. Earnings increased 14% on a year-over-year basis due to low fuel costs.Revenues in the September-end quarter were $16.67 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.79 billion and increasing 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Due to improving air-travel demand, adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) increased 4.1% year over year to $15.2 billion. United Airlines UAL reported mixed third-quarter 2025 results wherein the company’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, but revenues missed the same.UAL's third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) (excluding 12 cents from non-recurring items) of $2.78 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.64 but declined 16.5% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies above the guided range of $2.25 to $2.75 per share. 5 Stocks Set to DoubleEach was handpicked by a Zacks expert as the #1 favorite stock to gain +100% or more in the coming year. While not all picks can be winners, previous recommendations have soared +112%, +171%, +209% and +232%.Most of the stocks in this report are flying under Wall Street radar, which provides a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor.Today, See These 5 Potential Home Runs >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report CSX Corporation (CSX): Free Stock Analysis Report Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks