Norfolk Southern(US:NSC) ZACKS·2025-10-23 22:21Core Insights - Norfolk Southern (NSC) reported quarterly earnings of $3.3 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.18 per share, and showing a slight increase from $3.25 per share a year ago, resulting in an earnings surprise of +3.77% [1][2] - The company generated revenues of $3.1 billion for the quarter ended September 2025, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.44% and reflecting a year-over-year increase from $3.05 billion [2] - Norfolk Southern's stock has increased approximately 23% since the beginning of the year, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 13.9% [3] Earnings Outlook - The future performance of Norfolk Southern's stock will largely depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and the company's earnings outlook [4][5] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $3.19, with expected revenues of $3.09 billion, and for the current fiscal year, the EPS estimate is $12.45 on revenues of $12.29 billion [7] Industry Context - The Transportation - Rail industry, to which Norfolk Southern belongs, is currently ranked in the bottom 10% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating potential challenges ahead [8] - The performance of Norfolk Southern's stock may also be influenced by the overall outlook for the industry, as historical data shows that the top 50% of Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by more than 2 to 1 [8] Estimate Revisions - Prior to the earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Norfolk Southern was unfavorable, resulting in a Zacks Rank 4 (Sell) for the stock, suggesting expected underperformance in the near future [6]