CSX Transportation, which kicks off the quarterly earnings reports on Oct. 16, is the only railroad expected to report a decline in earnings per share, according to a Trains review of consensus estimates from I/B/E/S.
Analysts expect CSX’s earnings per share to dip by nearly 3%. The railroad’s traffic volume slumped nearly 6% for the quarter that ended Sept. 30.
Earnings at Union Pacific are expected to rise nearly 8% even though it reported the biggest traffic decline, at minus 9% for the quarter, based on weekly Association of American Railroads carload reports.
UP, which reports earnings on Oct. 17, is in the midst of implementing Precision Scheduled Railroading through its Unified Plan 2020.
Earnings at Kansas City Southern, which reports its financial results on Oct. 18, are expected to climb 14%. Traffic was down 0.3% at KCS for the quarter, but it too is cutting costs and making efficiency strides as it adopts PSR.
Canadian National’s earnings are expected to climb 8.6% on flat traffic volume for the quarter. CN reports its financial results on Oct. 22.
Next up: Norfolk Southern, which is expected to report a 4% improvement in earnings per share on Oct. 23. Traffic on NS, which also is adopting PSR, declined 6% in the quarter.
Canadian Pacific — the only railroad to gain traffic in the quarter, with volume up 1.6% — also reports on Oct. 23. Its earnings per share are expected to grow by a little over 10%.
BNSF Railway, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway, is expected to report earnings alongside its parent company on Nov. 1. BNSF’s traffic dipped 2.9% in the quarter.
