CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.95% and a net margin of 20.55%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share.

Here are the key takeaways from CSX’s conference call:

• Q4 results showed only modest volume growth (+1%) while revenue fell 1%, and reported operating income and EPS declined ~9% and ~7%; results included roughly $50 million of workforce and technology charges.
• Management says service and safety have stabilized with quarter-to-quarter improvements in velocity, cars online, dwell and FRA injury/accident rates, and they report clear productivity gains that supported modest volume growth.
• The company plans to drive margin expansion via cost actions (workforce optimization, >100 savings initiatives) and tighter capex discipline, forecasting 200–300 bps of operating margin improvement, CapEx below $2.4B, and at least 50% growth in free cash flow vs. 2025.
• Market headwinds and mix pressures persist—chemicals, forest products and automotive volumes were weak (down 6–11%), coal RPU fell with met-coal benchmark weakness, visibility is limited, and the company withdrew its prior multi-year targets to focus on 2026 execution.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $35.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.09. CSX has a twelve month low of $26.22 and a twelve month high of $37.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CSX. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $42.00 target price on shares of CSX and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.13.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new position in CSX in the second quarter worth $28,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of CSX in the third quarter valued at about $67,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in CSX by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 74,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in CSX by 22.5% during the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 148,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 27,280 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CSX News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting CSX this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Operating cash flow improved materially (cash from operations up ~30% YoY to ~$1.4B), which supports liquidity and capital allocation flexibility. CSX Corporation (CSX) Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Insider buying: CEO reportedly purchased shares (55,000), which can be read as a signal of management confidence. CSX Corporation (CSX) Releases Q4 2025 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction: shares climbed in extended trading despite misses — investors appeared to focus on the outlook/cash generation rather than the beat/miss. CSX Stock Climbs Despite Missing Q4 Earnings Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational mix: CSX reported slight gains in certain volumes (intermodal) but overall revenue fell modestly; volume trends are mixed across commodities. CSX sees small drop in revenue, slight gain in volume
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings miss: Q4 EPS $0.39 vs. consensus ~$0.42 and revenue down ~0.9% YoY to ~$3.5B; gross profit fell and EPS lagged estimates — an immediate negative driver for valuation. CSX (CSX) Misses Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Demand headwinds and one-time costs: weaker industrial demand and lower coal volumes weighed on top line; the quarter included ~$50M of severance/technology rationalization charges. CSX railroad profit slips
• Negative Sentiment: Legal overhang: a federal judge allowed CSX’s trespass claims against a fiber-optics company to proceed, adding potential litigation risk and costs. Fed. Judge Allows CSX’s Trespass Claims to Continue Against Fiber Optics Co.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.

CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.