Detailed financial statements for Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC): income statement, balance sheet and cash-flow summary. Track margins, debt, liquidity and profitability trends year over year: ten fiscal years free and up to 20 with Premium.
Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), operating through its various subsidiaries, is a prominent rail transport provider in the United States. The company's core business involves the conveyance of raw materials, semi-finished goods, and completed merchandise across the nation. Its extensive freight services cover a broad spectrum of commodities.
Analysis Summary
Norfolk Southern Corporation reported revenue of $12.18B in the most recent fiscal year, growing at a 5-year CAGR of 4.5%. Net income reached $2.87B, with a 7.4% 5-year CAGR.
Trailing-twelve-month margins: gross margin 52.9%, operating margin 31.5%, net margin 20.7%. Free cash flow grew at 0.1% CAGR over 5 years.
At $342.64 (closing price, October 30, 2026), NSC trades at a P/E of 28.72 and an ROE of 16.69%. Market capitalisation stands at $77.0B, placing it among large-cap names.
Balance sheet quality for NSC: current ratio of 0.8, net debt of $15.56B. A debt-to-equity below 1.0 typically signals conservative capital structure, while a current ratio above 1.5 indicates comfortable short-term liquidity.
Cash flow quality is decent: free cash flow of $2.16B represents 75% conversion of reported net income. High conversion (above 90%) suggests earnings translate cleanly into cash; lower conversion may indicate working capital tightness or accounting timing differences.
Income Statement (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $9.89B | $10.55B | $11.46B | $11.30B | $9.79B | $11.14B | $12.74B | $12.16B | $12.12B | $12.18B |
| Cost of Revenue | $6.82B | $7.03B | $7.50B | $7.40B | $6.39B | $6.78B | $8.01B | $9.35B | $8.36B | $7.01B |
| Gross Profit | $3.07B | $3.52B | $3.96B | $3.89B | $3.40B | $4.37B | $4.73B | $2.81B | $3.76B | $5.17B |
| Research & Development | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Selling, General & Admin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -$102.0M | -$126.0M | -$117.0M | -$120.0M | $753.0M |
| Operating Expenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $1.16B |
| Operating Income | $3.07B | $3.52B | $3.96B | $3.89B | $3.40B | $4.37B | $4.73B | $2.81B | $3.76B | $4.01B |
| EBITDA | $4.18B | $4.74B | $5.13B | $5.23B | $4.31B | $5.71B | $6.04B | $4.34B | $5.49B | $5.85B |
| Interest Expense | $569.0M | $550.0M | $557.0M | $604.0M | $625.0M | $646.0M | $692.0M | $722.0M | $807.0M | $792.0M |
| Pre-tax Income | $2.58B | $3.13B | $3.47B | $3.49B | $2.53B | $3.88B | $4.13B | $2.32B | $3.33B | $3.67B |
| Income Tax | $914.0M | -$2.28B | $803.0M | $769.0M | $517.0M | $873.0M | $860.0M | $493.0M | $707.0M | $792.0M |
| Net Income | $1.67B | $5.40B | $2.67B | $2.72B | $2.01B | $3.00B | $3.27B | $1.83B | $2.62B | $2.87B |
| EPS | $5.66 | $18.76 | $9.94 | $10.32 | $7.88 | $12.16 | $13.92 | $8.04 | $11.58 | $12.75 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $5.62 | $18.61 | $9.51 | $10.25 | $7.84 | $12.11 | $13.88 | $8.02 | $11.57 | $12.75 |
| Shares Outstanding (Diluted) | 296.0 M | 290.3 M | 280.2 M | 265.6 M | 256.6 M | 248.1 M | 235.6 M | 227.4 M | 226.4 M | 224.8 M |
Income Statement (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.97B | $3.00B | $3.46B | $3.53B |
| Gross Profit | $2.10B | $1.29B | $2.32B | $1.15B |
| Operating Income | $937.0M | $877.0M | $1.12B | $1.15B |
| EBITDA | $1.31B | $1.19B | $1.45B | $1.54B |
| Net Income | $644.0M | $547.0M | $734.0M | $759.0M |
| EPS | $2.87 | $2.43 | $3.26 | $3.38 |
| EPS (Diluted) | $2.87 | $2.43 | $3.26 | $3.37 |
Balance Sheet (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $956.0M | $690.0M | $358.0M | $580.0M | $1.11B | $839.0M | $456.0M | $1.57B | $1.64B | $1.53B |
| Short-term Investments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Receivables | $945.0M | $955.0M | $1.01B | $920.0M | $848.0M | $976.0M | $1.15B | $1.15B | $1.07B | $988.0M |
| Inventory | $257.0M | $222.0M | $207.0M | $244.0M | $221.0M | $218.0M | $253.0M | $264.0M | $277.0M | $271.0M |
| Total Current Assets | $2.29B | $2.15B | $1.86B | $2.08B | $2.32B | $2.17B | $2.01B | $3.27B | $3.19B | $3.20B |
| Property, Plant & Equipment | $29.75B | $30.33B | $31.09B | $31.61B | $31.34B | $31.65B | $32.16B | $33.33B | $35.83B | $36.48B |
| Goodwill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Intangible Assets | -$329.0M | -$366.0M | -$380.0M | -$388.0M | -$399.0M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total Assets | $34.89B | $35.71B | $36.24B | $37.92B | $37.96B | $38.49B | $38.88B | $41.65B | $43.68B | $45.24B |
| Accounts Payable | $650.0M | $822.0M | $828.0M | $710.0M | $552.0M | $850.0M | $712.0M | $997.0M | $985.0M | $1.86B |
| Short-term Debt | $650.0M | $700.0M | $585.0M | $316.0M | $579.0M | $553.0M | $703.0M | $4.0M | $555.0M | $607.0M |
| Total Current Liabilities | $2.34B | $2.54B | $2.59B | $2.30B | $2.16B | $2.52B | $2.65B | $2.63B | $3.54B | $3.77B |
| Long-term Debt | $9.56B | $9.14B | $10.56B | $11.88B | $12.10B | $13.29B | $14.48B | $17.18B | $16.65B | $16.48B |
| Total Liabilities | $22.48B | $19.35B | $20.88B | $22.74B | $23.17B | $24.85B | $26.15B | $28.87B | $29.38B | $29.69B |
| Retained Earnings | $10.43B | $14.18B | $13.44B | $13.21B | $12.88B | $11.59B | $10.70B | $10.70B | $12.09B | $13.23B |
| Total Equity | $12.41B | $16.36B | $15.36B | $15.18B | $14.79B | $13.64B | $12.73B | $12.78B | $14.31B | $15.55B |
| Total Debt | $10.21B | $9.84B | $11.14B | $12.73B | $13.11B | $14.25B | $15.59B | $17.57B | $17.48B | $17.09B |
| Net Debt | $9.26B | $9.15B | $10.79B | $12.15B | $12.00B | $13.41B | $15.14B | $16.00B | $15.84B | $15.56B |
| Working Capital | -$48.0M | -$396.0M | -$729.0M | -$219.0M | $158.0M | -$354.0M | -$642.0M | $639.0M | -$357.0M | -$577.0M |
Balance Sheet (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $1.53B | $1.34B | $1.07B | $1.60B |
| Total Assets | $45.24B | $45.11B | $45.12B | $45.95B |
| Total Liabilities | $29.69B | $29.31B | $28.87B | $29.22B |
| Total Equity | $15.55B | $15.80B | $16.25B | $16.73B |
| Total Debt | $17.09B | $17.10B | $16.62B | $16.61B |
Cash Flow (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net Income | $1.67B | $5.40B | $2.67B | $2.72B | $2.01B | $3.00B | $3.27B | $1.83B | $2.62B | $2.87B |
| Depreciation & Amortization | $1.03B | $1.06B | $1.10B | $1.14B | $1.15B | $1.18B | $1.22B | $1.30B | $1.35B | $1.39B |
| Stock-based Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $28.0M | 0 | $53.0M | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Change in Working Capital | $305.0M | $58.0M | $122.0M | -$139.0M | $131.0M | $147.0M | -$201.0M | $368.0M | $625.0M | $71.0M |
| Operating Cash Flow | $3.03B | $3.25B | $3.73B | $3.89B | $3.64B | $4.25B | $4.22B | $3.18B | $4.05B | $4.36B |
| Capital Expenditure | -$1.89B | -$1.72B | -$1.95B | -$2.02B | -$1.49B | -$1.47B | -$1.95B | -$2.35B | -$2.38B | -$2.20B |
| Acquisitions | $130.0M | $202.0M | $204.0M | $104.0M | $1.0M | $159.0M | $263.0M | $86.0M | $558.0M | $164.0M |
| Stock Repurchased | -$803.0M | -$1.01B | -$2.78B | -$2.10B | -$1.44B | -$3.39B | -$3.11B | -$619.0M | $26.0M | -$534.0M |
| Dividends Paid | -$695.0M | -$703.0M | -$844.0M | -$949.0M | -$960.0M | -$1.03B | -$1.17B | -$1.23B | -$1.22B | -$1.22B |
| Free Cash Flow | $1.15B | $1.53B | $1.77B | $1.87B | $2.14B | $2.79B | $2.27B | $830.0M | $1.67B | $2.16B |
Cash Flow (Quarterly)
| Year | 2025-Q4 | 2026-Q1 | 2026-Q2 | 2026-Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $1.06B | $344.0M | $1.05B | $1.32B |
| Capital Expenditure | $1.48B | -$382.0M | -$439.0M | -$586.0M |
| Free Cash Flow | $2.54B | -$38.0M | $615.0M | $736.0M |
| Dividends Paid | -$303.0M | -$303.0M | -$303.0M | -$304.0M |
| Stock-based Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Growth & Margins (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth (YoY) | +6.7% | +8.6% | -1.4% | -13.3% | +13.8% | +14.4% | -4.6% | -0.3% | +0.5% | |
| Net Income Growth (YoY) | +224.0% | -50.7% | +2.1% | -26.0% | +49.3% | +8.8% | -44.1% | +43.5% | +9.6% | |
| EPS Growth (YoY) | +231.4% | -47.0% | +3.8% | -23.6% | +54.3% | +14.5% | -42.2% | +44.0% | +10.1% | |
| Shares Change (YoY) | -1.9% | -3.5% | -5.2% | -3.4% | -3.3% | -5.0% | -3.5% | -0.4% | -0.7% | |
| FCF Growth (YoY) | +33.4% | +16.0% | +5.5% | +14.4% | +30.0% | -18.3% | -63.5% | +101.3% | +29.1% | |
| Gross Margin | 31.0% | 33.4% | 34.6% | 34.5% | 34.7% | 39.2% | 37.1% | 23.1% | 31.0% | 42.4% |
| Operating Margin | 31.0% | 33.4% | 34.6% | 34.5% | 34.7% | 39.2% | 37.1% | 23.1% | 31.0% | 32.9% |
| EBITDA Margin | 42.3% | 44.9% | 44.8% | 46.3% | 44.0% | 51.2% | 47.4% | 35.7% | 45.3% | 48.0% |
| Net Margin | 16.9% | 51.2% | 23.3% | 24.1% | 20.6% | 27.0% | 25.7% | 15.0% | 21.6% | 23.6% |
| FCF Margin | 11.6% | 14.5% | 15.5% | 16.6% | 21.9% | 25.0% | 17.8% | 6.8% | 13.8% | 17.7% |
| Effective Tax Rate | 35.4% | -72.8% | 23.1% | 22.0% | 20.4% | 22.5% | 20.8% | 21.2% | 21.2% | 21.6% |
Per-Share Data (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCF Per Share | $3.88 | $5.27 | $6.33 | $7.05 | $8.35 | $11.23 | $9.65 | $3.65 | $7.38 | $9.60 |
| Dividends Per Share | $2.35 | $2.42 | $3.01 | $3.57 | $3.74 | $4.14 | $4.95 | $5.39 | $5.39 | $5.40 |
| Shares Outstanding (Basic) | 293.9 M | 287.9 M | 268.1 M | 263.3 M | 255.1 M | 246.9 M | 234.8 M | 226.9 M | 226.1 M | 224.8 M |
What to look at in Industrials
Aerospace, defence, machinery, transport. Semi-cyclical. Key: backlog, operating margins, and FCF conversion.
- 5y revenue growth — Without growth, there is no long-term value creation
- Operating margin — The best indicator of operational discipline in industrials
- ROIC — Quality industrials have ROIC >15% — the rest destroy capital
- FCF conversion — FCF / Net Income — in industrials good >85%
- Net debt / EBITDA — Cyclical industrials with high debt suffer hard in recessions
- Capex / Revenue — Maintaining the machinery. <4% = possible underinvestment (future decline)
- Altman Z-Score — Bankruptcy model (NYU 1968) — combines liquidity, leverage and profitability. Key in cyclicals
Profitability
| Return on Equity | 16.69% |
| Return on Invested Capital | 7.46% |
| Return on Assets | 5.84% |
| Gross Margin | 52.87% |
| Operating Margin | 31.54% |
| Net Margin | 20.71% |
Financial Health
| Debt / Equity | 0.99 |
| Current Ratio | 0.90 |
| Piotroski F-Score | 7 |
| Altman Z-Score | 2.27 |
Key Ratios (10y)
| Year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E | 19.09 | 7.72 | 15.04 | 18.81 | 30.15 | 24.48 | 17.70 | 29.40 | 20.27 | 22.64 |
| P/B | 2.56 | 2.55 | 2.61 | 3.37 | 4.10 | 5.39 | 4.54 | 4.20 | 3.71 | 4.17 |
| P/S | 3.21 | 3.95 | 3.50 | 4.53 | 6.19 | 6.60 | 4.54 | 4.41 | 4.38 | 5.33 |
| Gross Margin | 31.0% | 33.4% | 34.6% | 34.5% | 34.7% | 39.2% | 37.1% | 23.1% | 31.0% | 42.4% |
| Operating Margin | 31.0% | 33.4% | 34.6% | 34.5% | 34.7% | 39.2% | 37.1% | 23.1% | 31.0% | 32.9% |
| Net Margin | 16.9% | 51.2% | 23.3% | 24.1% | 20.6% | 27.0% | 25.7% | 15.0% | 21.6% | 23.6% |
Related companies: CSX · UNP · CP · CNI
Explore sector: Industrials · Railroads
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