Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC)

Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) dropped by 5.33% from $196.24 to $185.79 in the trading on Wednesday, October 25, 2023. The reason why NSC stock down is due to its mixed Q3 results

• Earnings: Norfolk Southern reported Q3 2023 earnings of $2.65 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.74 by a significant margin. This marked a substantial 35.4% year-over-year decline in earnings.
• Revenue: The company's Q3 railway operating revenues came in at $2,971 million, which slightly exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,942.3 million. However, this still represented a notable 11.1% year-over-year decrease.
• Rising Operating Expenses: Railway operating expenses surged by 7% year over year to reach $2,215 million. This increase was primarily driven by a significant rise in material costs and expenses related to the Ohio derailment incident.
• Worsening Operating Ratio: Norfolk Southern's operating ratio, a critical metric measuring operating expenses as a percentage of revenues, soared to 74.6% in Q3 from 62% in the previous year due to escalating costs. A lower value of this metric is preferred.