# Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) — Stock CV

Norfolk Southern Corp. is a $71.4B industrial company. Revenue grew 3.0% over the last year, it keeps 21¢ of every dollar of sales as profit, and its net debt equals ~9.5 years of free cash flow. It trades at 27.1× earnings — in the most expensive third of its own history.

> Class I railroad Norfolk Southern operates in the Eastern United States. On more than 20,000 miles of track, the rail hauls shipments of coal, intermodal traffic, and a diverse mix of automotive, agricultural, metal, chemical, and forest products.

## Identity

- **Ticker**: NSC
- **Sector**: Industrials
- **Industry**: Railroads, Line-Haul Operating
- **Headquarters**: ATLANTA, GA
- **Employees**: 19 300
- **Website**: https://www.norfolksouthern.com
- **Market cap**: $71.4B
- **Last price**: $317.79
- **Financial profile**: Mixed

## Vitals (TTM)

- **Revenue**: $12.5B
- **Net income**: $2.64B
- **Free cash flow**: $1.63B
- **Net debt**: $15.6B
- **P/E**: 27.1
- **Revenue growth (YoY)**: 3.0%

## Skills (profile scores, 0–100)

| Pillar | Score |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 29 |
| Growth | 46 |
| Profitability | 82 |
| Health | 47 |
| Quality | 82 |
| Moat | 69 |

## Qualifications (beginner checklist) — 9 of 11 passed

- [x] Revenue growing — +3.0% YoY
- [x] Profitable — $2.64B TTM
- [ ] Profit growing — -2.7% YoY
- [x] Generates cash — $1.63B TTM
- [ ] Debt under control — ~9.5y of cash flow to repay
- [x] Established company — $71.4B market cap
- [x] Not printing shares — -12.2% shares over ~5y
- [x] Proven track record — 10/10 profitable years
- [x] Financially stable — Altman Z 2.2 — grey
- [x] Pays a dividend — yield 1.70%
- [x] Valuation not extreme — P/E 27.1

## Experience (career milestones)

- **Jul 29, 2025** — The Union Pacific Railroad announced plans to acquire Norfolk Southern in a deal worth $85 billion
- **2023** — Norfolk Southern became the first major North American railroad to offer sick time to all union workers
- **Dec 6, 2022** — Norfolk Southern announced a new service-and-growth plan to maintain its train crew levels…
- **FY2017** — Revenue crossed $10B: $10.6B for the year
- **FY2017** — Best year on record: $5.40B net income
- **FY2016** — Profitable every year on record: 10 consecutive profitable years in our data
- **FY2016** — Revenue already above $1B: $9.89B in first reported year
- **FY2016** — Positive free cash flow every year since: 10-year streak
- **1987** — Stanley Crane proposed an initial public offering to privatize the company
- **1982** — Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and…
- **Jul 23, 1980** — Norfolk Southern Corporation was incorporated in Virginia on July 23, 1980
- **1953** — Profitable and innovative, Southern became, in 1953, the first major US railroad to completely switch to…
- **1894** — ) and Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W, formed in 1881) quickly…
- **1870** — After the Civil War, it became part of the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a trunk line across…
- **1854** — It was acquired by the South Side Railroad in 1854

## Strengths

- High gross margin (48.5%)
- Strongly profitable — 21.0% net margin
- Interest covered 5.7× by operating earnings
- Piotroski F-Score 7/9 — fundamentally strong checklist

## Watch-outs

- Net debt would take ~9.9 years of free cash flow to repay
- Net debt equals ~9.5 years of free cash flow

## Track record

| Year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | $11.1B | $3.00B | $2.79B |
| FY2022 | $12.7B | $3.27B | $2.27B |
| FY2023 | $12.2B | $1.83B | $830M |
| FY2024 | $12.1B | $2.62B | $1.67B |
| FY2025 | $12.2B | $2.87B | $2.16B |

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Source: https://stockcv.com/NSC — derived from company filings; may be delayed or incomplete. Information, not investment advice.