Loading company financials…
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE, INC. · Road & Rail · CIK 0000702165
$328.09
+0.77% · live
Updated
$73.63B market value
From NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP's FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 9, 2026 · read the filing
NORFOLK SOUTHERN runs railways and local transport. It took in $12.18B last year, which makes it a large company. Of every dollar it sells, about 24 cents is left as profit.
The financial picture is led by profitability, with growth and debt worth watching.
A conclusion from the filings, not a recommendation. Detailed figures and supporting evidence appear in their dedicated sections below.
Financial health
Generally healthy, with a few things to watch.
From NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP's FY2025 annual filing · share price scored separately
Largest year-over-year changes in FY2025
Free cash flow
$1.67B → $2.16B
Operating income
$4.07B → $4.36B
Profit
$2.62B → $2.87B
Operating margin
33.6% → 35.8%
Measured against FY2024, from the 10-K filed Feb 9, 2026
Improved: +29.1%
$1.67B to $2.16BSignificant
Why it matters: Cash left after paying for the plant that produced it — the money genuinely available for dividends, buybacks or paying down debt. Harder to flatter than profit.
How the latest move compares (quote live), and what was published around it
NSC rose 0.77% on the latest quote. The average Industrials company tracked here moved +0.33%, and the S&P 500 −1.04%. That is in line with its sector and 1.8 points above the market.
Expectations
Not from the filings — what other people are betting on, and what the price already assumes.
The growth rate someone buying today is paying for, against what the company has delivered
At today's price, the market is paying for free cash flow to grow by about 15% a year for the next 10 years. Over the last 10 years it grew by about 15% a year.
The essentials
Each answered from the filings, with the numbers behind it.
Yes. It keeps about 24 cents of every dollar of sales as profit, earning $2.87B last year.
Barely. Sales were roughly flat, up 0.5%.
Manageable, but notable. Clearing its debt would take about 3.6 years of cash flow. For every $1 it owes, it owns $1.52 in assets.
Core operating and valuation reference metrics
Whether the dividend is covered by what the business actually earns
It pays out 42 cents of every dollar of profit and keeps the rest, which leaves the payment comfortably covered. It paid out 28% of the cash its operations generated. It has paid in each of the last 12 years.
GoodNext payment expected around , projected from how regularly it has paid before rather than from a date the company has announced.
Figures from the FY2025 annual filing
Last year it earned $2.87B and generated $4.36B of cash from operations.
Reported annual figures
As reported to the SEC, in USD. Hover or show sources to see where each figure came from.
| Income statement | FY202510-K · Feb 9, 2026Filing for FY2025 | FY202410-K · Feb 10, 2025Filing for FY2024 | FY202310-K · Feb 10, 2025Filing for FY2023 | FY202210-K · Feb 3, 2023Filing for FY2022 | FY202110-K · Feb 3, 2023Filing for FY2021 | ChangeFY2025 vs FY2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueWhat is this? | $12.18B | $12.12B | $12.16B | $12.74B | $11.14B | +0.5% |
| Operating income | $4.36B | $4.07B | $2.85B | $4.81B | $4.45B | +7.0% |
| Operating marginOperating income ÷ revenueWhat is this? | 35.8% | 33.6% | 23.5% | 37.7% | 39.9% | +2.2 pts |
| Interest expense | $792.0M | $807.0M | $722.0M | $692.0M | $646.0M | −1.9% |
| Income before tax | $3.67B | $3.33B | $2.32B | $4.13B | $3.88B | +10.1% |
| Net income | $2.87B | $2.62B | $1.83B | $3.27B | $3.00B | +9.6% |
| Net marginNet income ÷ revenueWhat is this? | 23.6% | 21.6% | 15.0% | 25.7% | 27.0% | +2.0 pts |
| Earnings per shareNet income ÷ shares outstanding at the period end — close to, but not the same as, the reported EPSWhat is this? | $12.80 | $11.59 | $8.10 | $14.34 | $12.51 | +10.5% |
† calculated from other reported figures, such as total liabilities as assets minus equity.
This company's latest filing beside its peers' stored scores
| Company | Health | F-Score | Revenue growth | Profit margin | P/E | Debt to equity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSCNORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP · this page | 7.3/10 | 6/8 |
Insider activity, ownership stakes and what's coming — straight from EDGAR, before any article is written about it
Officers, directors and major shareholders must report within two business days of a trade.
Reported a transaction — 333 shares
Holds 333 shares after this filing.
Exercised stock options — 2,653 shares
Holds 23,818 shares after this filing.
Had shares withheld to cover taxes
20 recent filings, newest first. Each is labelled from its form and item numbers, not from its wording.
Quarterly report for Q2 FY2026
Revenue +11.4% · Operating margin −5.3 pts · Profit margin −3.5 pts — against Q2 FY2025
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingWrite down why you are following NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP, what has to go right and what would change your mind, then see each new annual report measured against it. Sign in to start one.
Go deeper
Every figure above traces back to a filing in the timeline, each linked to the document itself.
The 52 subsidiaries named in its 10-K, incorporated across 9 places. A filer lists the significant ones and may leave the rest out, so this is the floor rather than the full count.
Every company's figures are checked for internal consistency: the balance sheet adding up, figures sharing one currency, cash flow and share counts within plausible ranges, and how recent the latest annual report is. Nothing here changes a figure.
Financial figures are from NSC's 10-K for fiscal year 2025 (period ending 2025-12-31, filed Feb 9, 2026), reported under the US GAAP taxonomy. View the source filing.
3 of 4 scored areas had enough reported figures to judge
The score averages profitability, growth, debt and accounting. Accounting had too few reported figures and is left out of the average rather than counted as a weakness, so a company is never marked down for a figure it did not publish. Cash generation is shown for context and already feeds profitability. Valuation is scored separately, because a share price says nothing about whether the business is sound. 8 of the 9 Piotroski checks could be evaluated. How the score works
Each year scored only from its annual report as it was first filed
| Fiscal year | Health | F-Score | Scored from |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | 7.3 | 6/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 9, 2026 |
| FY2024 | 6.0 | 6/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 10, 2025 |
| FY2023 | 6.0 | 5/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 5, 2024 |
| FY2022 | 7.3 | 6/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 3, 2023 |
| FY2021 | 7.3 | 6/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 4, 2022 |
| FY2020 | 6.0 | 5/8 | 10-K, filed Feb 4, 2021 |
A later restatement never reaches back into an earlier year, and every year is scored without a share price, so the latest point can differ a little from the headline score, which uses today's price.
Every check behind the three models, and what each one tests
6 of 8 checks passed
Nine yes-or-no tests of whether this year's finances improved on last year's. One could not be evaluated and is excluded from the total rather than counted as a failure.
2.07
In the grey zone
For this model, above 2.6 is safe and below 1.1 is distress.
Distance from bankruptcy, from a model fitted on companies that did and did not go bust. It describes a balance sheet's shape today; it does not forecast a failure.
not reported — This company has not reported enough of the required figures to calculate this score.
This company has not reported enough of the required figures to calculate this score.
Screens eight accounting ratios for the pattern earnings manipulators tend to leave. A flag is a reason to read the filing closely, never evidence of wrongdoing.
Every figure above comes from the FY2025 filing as filed with the SEC.
Improved: +7.0%
$4.07B to $4.36BNotable
Why it matters: Profit from running the business, before interest and tax. Less exposed than profit to one-off financing and tax items, so a clearer read on the business itself.
Improved: +9.6%
$2.62B to $2.87BNotable
Why it matters: Profit swings far more than sales do, and one-off items — a legal settlement, a tax charge, an asset sale — move it without the underlying business changing.
Improved: +2.2 pts
33.6% to 35.8%Notable
Why it matters: What survives each sale after running the business. A falling operating margin beside a steady gross margin points at overheads — wages, marketing, research — rather than pricing.
Improved: +2.0 pts
21.6% to 23.6%Notable
Why it matters: What survives to the very end of each sale. Worth reading beside revenue: growing sales on a shrinking margin means the company is buying its growth.
Improved: +10.5%
$11.59 to $12.80Notable
Why it matters: Profit divided by the shares in issue at the period end, so it sits close to but not on the company's own reported figure. It can rise with no growth in profit when the company buys back stock — read it beside the share count.
Deteriorated: -6.8%
$1.64B to $1.53BNotable
Why it matters: A falling cash pile is only a warning if the company is consuming it. Paying down debt, buying back stock and paying a dividend all reduce cash by choice.
Changed: -7.4%
$2.38B to $2.20BNotable
Why it matters: Neither good nor bad on its own. Heavy spending is a company building capacity or a company struggling to stand still, and the two look identical in this figure.
Q3 FY2026 against Q3 FY2025, from the 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026 — read it.
Improved: +13.6%
$3.10B to $3.53BNotable
Why it matters: Sales are what everything else is built on. A fall can be lost customers, lower prices, or a business the company sold — the filing itself says which.
Improved: +6.8%
$711.0M to $759.0MNotable
Why it matters: Profit swings far more than sales do, and one-off items — a legal settlement, a tax charge, an asset sale — move it without the underlying business changing.
Deteriorated: −2.8 pts
35.4% to 32.6%Notable
Why it matters: What survives each sale after running the business. A falling operating margin beside a steady gross margin points at overheads — wages, marketing, research — rather than pricing.
Deteriorated: −1.4 pts
22.9% to 21.5%Notable
Why it matters: What survives to the very end of each sale. Worth reading beside revenue: growing sales on a shrinking margin means the company is buying its growth.
Improved: +6.6%
$3.17 to $3.38Notable
Why it matters: Profit divided by the shares in issue at the period end, so it sits close to but not on the company's own reported figure. It can rise with no growth in profit when the company buys back stock — read it beside the share count.
Improved: +12.7%
$1.42B to $1.60BNotable
Why it matters: A falling cash pile is only a warning if the company is consuming it. Paying down debt, buying back stock and paying a dividend all reduce cash by choice.
Q3 FY2026 against Q2 FY2026, from the 10-Q filed Oct 22, 2026 — read it. Quarter-to-quarter moves include seasonal swings — a retailer's holiday quarter — which the year-earlier comparison removes.
Improved: +49.5%
$1.07B to $1.60BCritical
Why it matters: A falling cash pile is only a warning if the company is consuming it. Paying down debt, buying back stock and paying a dividend all reduce cash by choice.
4 other measures barely moved. Figures compare the two most recent annual filings — read the latest one. Moves are graded on fixed lines — 5%, 15% and 40% for amounts, and 1, 3 and 8 points for margins — as notable, significant or critical. Nothing here reads the management commentary, which is where a company explains its own numbers.
These coincide with the move in time. None is presented as its cause: a price can move on news that names no company, on the wider market, or on trading that no document records.
Filter by minute, hour, day or week — or compare against peers
Loading price history…
Discounted at 8%–10% a year, with growth settling to 2.5% after 10 years. Those rates are ordinary choices, not measurements: across that range the assumed growth works out between 13% and 18%. This describes what the price implies — it is not a forecast, and not a view on whether the price is right.
Opinions from 26 analysts covering this company, as of . Their views, not this site's.
Of 26 analysts publishing on this company, 3 say strong buy, 5 say buy and 18 say hold. Analysts are paid to publish a view and are wrong often; the split above says how much they agree with each other, which is the part a single headline rating hides.
Published by Finnhub. Analyst coverage skews towards larger companies and towards optimism — sell ratings are rare across the whole market, so a company with none is ordinary rather than endorsed.
Measured on and published about a week later — this is a fortnightly snapshot, not a live position.
About 3.2% of this company's shares have been borrowed and sold by people expecting to buy them back cheaper. That is a bet the price falls. Those people can be wrong, and when a heavily shorted share rises they have to buy it back, which pushes it up further.
Collected by FINRA from broker-dealers twice a month. It counts positions, not intentions, and some of it is hedging rather than a directional bet against the company.
Nothing in this section is a figure this company reported about itself. These are expectations and positions — what the price implies, what analysts have published, what short sellers are betting, and what large funds held at the last count. WylthIQ reports them; it does not endorse them, does not forecast prices, and takes no view on whether any of them will turn out to be right.
The trailing P/E is 26.8x — investors pay $26.8 for each $1 of trailing profit.
This company has not reported enough of the required figures to calculate this score.
| 0.5% |
| 23.6% |
| 25.63x |
| 1.91x |
| UNPUNION PACIFIC CORP | 7.3/10 | 7/8 | 1.1% | 29.1% | 24.77x | 2.77x |
|---|
| CSXCSX CORP | 6.0/10 | 5/8 | -3.1% | 20.5% | 33.27x | 2.32x |
|---|
| Median of peers | 6.7/10 | — | -1.0% | 24.8% | 29.02x | 2.55x |
|---|
Peers come from the company's industry classification. A difference describes the companies; it does not rank them.
Holds 22,783 shares after this filing.
Estimated from how often this has happened before, not a confirmed date.
Not investment advice, and not a signal to act on by itself — a filing says what happened, not why, and insiders trade for ordinary reasons having nothing to do with where they think the company is headed.
Had a director or senior officer leave or join · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Held a shareholder vote
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q1 FY2026
Operating margin −9.0 pts · Free cash flow turned negative · Operating income -23.5% — against Q1 FY2025
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingSigned a material agreement
Read the filingProxy statement for a shareholder meeting
Read the filingAnnual report for FY2025
Operating margin +2.2 pts · Free cash flow +29.1% · Operating income +7.0% — against FY2024
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingMade a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingHeld a shareholder vote · Reported another event
Read the filingReported another event
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q3 FY2025
Operating margin −16.9 pts · Profit margin −13.1 pts · Cash +45.4% — against Q3 FY2024
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingHad a director or senior officer leave or join
Read the filingSigned a material agreement
Read the filingQuarterly report for Q2 FY2025
Cash +97.7% — against Q2 FY2024
Read the filingPublished results · Made a Regulation FD disclosure
Read the filingReported another event
Read the filingThe first 40 of 52. The rest are in the exhibit.
Source: Exhibit 21 of the 10-K filed 2026-02-09. These are legal entities, not brands or acquisitions — a company that bought a business may hold it inside an entity named here, or inside one small enough that the rule does not require naming it at all.
Coverage from the last 30 days
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Looks Expensive On Future Cash Flow
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern Corporation Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Yahoo Finance ·
What Norfolk Southern (NSC) Said on Its Q3 Earnings Call
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern profits rise on higher volume and revenue
Yahoo Finance ·
Union Pacific, Norfolk Third-Quarter Adjusted Earnings Top Views Amid Volume Growth
Yahoo Finance ·
NSC Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Record Revenues, Volume Growth
Yahoo Finance ·
First look: Norfolk Southern earnings
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Q3 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern (NSC) Q3 Earnings and Revenues Top Estimates
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern: Q3 Earnings Snapshot
Yahoo Finance ·
Norfolk Southern reports third quarter 2026 results
Yahoo Finance ·
Primary sources and further research