Norfolk Southern (NSC)
Industrials · $69.9B market cap · SEC CIK 0000702165
fundamentals score out of 100
Next reports on Oct 21, 2026, before the open, with analysts expecting $3.62 in earnings per share.
The case for NSC
- Generated $2.2B of free cash flow in FY2025, 18% of revenue.
- 21% of revenue drops through to net profit.
- Pays a 2.5% dividend while you wait.
- Return on equity of 17%.
The case against
- Earnings per share down 20.8%.
- Priced at 26.5× earnings while earnings per share are shrinking (-20.8%).
- Current liabilities exceed current assets (ratio 0.83).
- Revenue grew only 3.0%, roughly the pace of inflation.
What the score is made of
Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Industrials companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.
| Valuewhat you pay for the earnings, sales, assets and cash | 47 |
|---|---|
| Growthhow fast revenue and earnings are moving, this year and over five | 26 |
| Profitabilityhow much of the revenue becomes profit, and how much of that is cash | 58 |
| Momentumhow the price has behaved lately | 53 |
| Stabilityhow violently it moves, what it owes and what it pays you | 65 |
- Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 79 Industrials companies.
Key numbers
| Price / earnings | 26.5× |
|---|---|
| Price / book | 4.35× |
| Price / sales | 5.6× |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +3.0% |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -20.8% |
| Gross margin | 49% |
| Operating margin | 32% |
| Net margin | 21% |
| Return on equity | 17% |
| Debt / equity | 1.02× |
| Current ratio | 0.83 |
| Dividend yield | 2.50% |
| Beta | 1.21 |
| 52-week range | $277.80 – $358.60 |
| Position in that range | 45% of the way up |
| 3-month return | +3.0% |
| 1-year return | +8.9% |
Five years of financials, as filed
Pulled from Norfolk Southern's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are derived from the rows above.
| FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.2B | $12.1B | $12.2B | $12.7B | $11.1B |
| Operating income | $4.4B | $4.1B | $2.9B | $4.8B | $4.4B |
| Net income | $2.9B | $2.6B | $1.8B | $3.3B | $3.0B |
| Operating cash flow | $4.4B | $4.1B | $3.2B | $4.2B | $4.3B |
| Capital expenditure | $2.2B | $2.4B | $2.3B | $1.9B | $1.5B |
| Total assets | $45.2B | $43.7B | $41.7B | $38.9B | $38.5B |
| Total liabilities | $29.7B | $29.4B | $28.9B | $26.2B | $24.9B |
| Shareholder equity | $15.5B | $14.3B | $12.8B | $12.7B | $13.6B |
| Cash | $1.5B | $1.6B | $1.6B | $456M | $839M |
| Free cash flow | $2.2B | $1.7B | $852M | $2.3B | $2.8B |
| Operating margin | 35.8% | 33.6% | 23.5% | 37.7% | 39.9% |
| Net margin | 23.6% | 21.6% | 15.0% | 25.7% | 27.0% |
| Diluted shares | 225M | 226M | 227M | 236M | 248M |
Share count is down 9.2% over 4 years. Buybacks have been shrinking the pie.
What Norfolk Southern says it does
and Item 2. Properties GENERAL – Norfolk Southern Corporation (Norfolk Southern) is an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that owns a major freight railroad, Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NSR). We were incorporated on July 23, 1980, under the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Our common stock (Common Stock) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol "NSC." Unless indicated otherwise, Norfolk Southern Corporation and its subsidiaries, including NSR, are referred to collectively as NS, we, us, and our. We are primarily engaged in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods primarily in the Southeast, East, and Midwest and, via interchange with rail carriers, to and from the rest of the United States (U.S.). We also transport overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. We offer the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern half of the U.S. We make…
Risk factors NSC lists in its 10-K
- Information About Our Executive Officers
- Business Experience During Past Five Years
- Total Number of Shares (or Units) Purchased
- Average Price Paid per Share (or Unit)
- ($ in millions, except per share amounts)
- Agriculture, forest and consumer products
- Cash provided by operating activities,
- Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits
- Internal Control – Integrated Framework
- Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
- Opinions on the Consolidated Financial Statements and Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
- Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013)
- Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
- Sufficiency of audit evidence related to the capitalization of property expenditures