Norfolk Southern Q3 Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates, Rise Y/Y

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) third-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 14 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.30 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.18 and increased 1.5% year over year.Railway operating revenues were $3.10 billion in the quarter under review, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.08 billion. The top line increased 2% year over year, on flat volumes. Total revenue per unit surged 2% year over year.Income from railway operations fell 31% year over year to $1.09 billion. Railway operating expenses inched up 38% on a year-over-year basis to $2.00 billion, primarily due to a double-digit increase in expenses on minerals and other items.NSC’s president and chief executive officer, Mark George, stated, “Norfolk Southern delivered another quarter of strong results on safety, service, and productivity through a dynamic freight market. The entire Thoroughbred team pulled together to serve our customers, achieve an all-time record in fuel efficiency, delivered on key productivity initiatives, and executed a noteworthy land sale that will ultimately deliver rail volumes for years to come. I’m proud of the way our team is performing with discipline and focus — driving results and strengthening our foundation for long term success.”Norfolk Southern Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Norfolk Southern Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Norfolk Southern Corporation QuoteQ3 Segmental PerformanceMerchandise revenues increased 6% year over year to $1.96 billion. Revenue per unit surged 0.3% year over year.Intermodal’s revenues fell 1% year over year at $759 million.  While segmental volumes decreased 2%, revenue per unit inched up 1% year over year.Coal revenues were $375 million, down 12% year over year. Coal volumes decreased 5% year over year. Revenue per unit declined 8% in the reported quarter.LiquidityNorfolk Southern, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell), exited the third quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $1.41 billion compared with $1.30 billion at the end of the prior quarter. NSC had a long-term debt of $16.5 billion at the third-quarter end, flat sequentially.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. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) reported third-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.76 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 and improved 18.1% year over year.Total operating revenues of $3.05 billion surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.02 billion and were down 0.5% year over year. JBHT’s third-quarter revenue performance was hurt by a 1% and 4% decline in gross revenue per load in Intermodal (JBI) and Truckload (JBT), respectively, a decrease in load volume of 8% and 1% in Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS) and Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), and 8% fewer stops in Final Mile Services (FMS). These items were partially offset by a 3 % improvement in DCS productivity, a 9% increase in revenue per load in ICS and 14% load growth in JBT. Total operating revenue, excluding fuel surcharge revenue, fell less than 1% year over year.United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (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 surpassed 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 and $2.75.Operating revenues of $15.2 billion fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.3 billion but increased 2.6% year over year. Passenger revenues (which accounted for 90.7% of the top line) increased 1.9% year over year to $13.8 billion. UAL flights transported 48,382 passengers in the third quarter, up 6.2% year over year.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockThis under-the-radar company specializes in semiconductor products that titans like NVIDIA don't build. It's uniquely positioned to take advantage of the next growth stage of this market. And it's just beginning to enter the spotlight, which is exactly where you want to be.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $971 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>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 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (DAL): Free Stock Analysis Report United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL): Free Stock Analysis Report Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC): Free Stock Analysis Report J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (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