CSX Q4 Earnings & Revenues Lag Estimates, Both Down Year Over Year

CSX Corporation CSX reported unimpressive fourth-quarter 2025 results wherein its earnings and revenues lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Quarterly earnings per share of 39 cents fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 42 cents and decreased 7.1% on a year-over-year basis as well. Results were hurt by low shipping demand and high costs.Total revenues of $3.51 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.55 billion and declined 1% year over year. The downside was owing to lower export coal revenues and a decline in merchandise volume. These were partially offset by higher merchandise pricing, an increase in fuel surcharge revenues and growth in intermodal volume.Fourth-quarter operating income decreased year over year to $1.11 billion. Total expenses increased 1% year over year. CSX’s operating margin during the December quarter was 31.6%. Total volumes inched up 1% year over year, boosted by intermodal volumes.CSX Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise CSX Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CSX Corporation QuoteQ4 Segmental Performance of CSXMerchandise revenues fell 2% year over year to $2.16 billion in the reported quarter, a tad lower than our estimate of $2.2 billion. Merchandise volumes fell 2% year over year to $634 million. Segmental revenue per unit inched up 1% year over year.Intermodal revenues increased 7% year over year to $562 million, higher than our estimate of $540.7 million. Segmental volumes increased 5% while revenue per unit was up 2% year over year.Coal revenues slid 5% year over year to $472 million in the reported quarter, lower than our estimate of $489.8 million. Coal volumes inched up 1% year over year, while segmental revenue per unit fell 6%.Trucking revenues totaled $196 million (below our estimate of $223.7 million), up 1% year over year. Other revenues fell 5% year over year to $122 million (below our estimate of $134.5 million) in the reported quarter. CSX’s Liquidity CSX exited the final quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of $670 million compared with $933 million at the end of 2024. Long-term debt of $18.2 billion increased from the 2024 levels of $17.9 billion.Impressive 2025 Guidance From CSXThe railroad’s financial outlook for the year includes low single-digit revenue growth, a 200 to 300-basis-point improvement in operating margin and an increase in free cash flow of at least 50%. The railroad operator expects capital expenses to be below $2.4 billion.CSX’s Zacks RankCurrently, CSX carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Q4 Performances of Other Transportation CompaniesDelta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.55 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.53. Earnings decreased 16.22% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.Revenues in the December-end quarter were $16 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.63 billion and increasing 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Adjusted operating revenues (excluding third-party refinery sales) increased 1.2% year over year to $14.6 billion. Revenue growth was impacted by about 2 points due to the government shutdown, mainly in the domestic segment, consistent with the company's disclosure last month.J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.90 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 and improved 24.2% year over year.Total operating revenues of $3.09 billion fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 billion and decreased 1.6% year over year. JBHT’s fourth-quarter revenue performance was hurt by a 2% and 4% decline in revenue per load excluding fuel surcharge revenues in Intermodal (“JBI”) and Truckload (“JBT”), respectively.Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge GainsQuantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. 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(JBHT): 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