Loading…
Transcontinental Canadian railway hauling bulk, intermodal and industrial freight across Canada and into the US Gulf Coast and Midwest.
Transcontinental Canadian railway hauling bulk, intermodal and industrial freight across Canada and into the US Gulf Coast and Midwest.
Earns freight charges per shipment across a network from both Canadian coasts to the US Gulf of Mexico, with grain, forest products, containers, petroleum and chemicals carrying volumes. The Canadian government privatised it in 1995.
In one line: Canada's Union Pacific..
Moat: wide (scale, regulatory licence, installed base). Only railway spanning three coasts (Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf) in North America; irreplaceable rail corridor.
Headquarters: Montreal, Canada · Founded: 1919 · Employees: 23,839
Size Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) is a Canada Industrials company (Railroads) with a market value of $75.0B, the 13th largest of 420 Canada companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at C$175.21 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 15.8%, against +10.1% for the median peer and +5.2% for the Canada market (cap-weighted) — highest of 7 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 6.8% over the last twelve months (peer median +6.2%); the operating margin is 37.6% (peer median 36.6%).
Valuation It trades at 20.0× forward earnings against a peer median of 21.1× (3rd cheapest of 7).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 9% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +5%, so the hurdle is +5 pp: the price needs faster growth than the company has been delivering — of companies that just grew 25–50% a year, 93.8% slowed down over the next four years.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 3.8 points above its cost of capital (7.6% WACC).
Credit Canadian National Railway has 1 bond outstanding ($300M), rated A- by the agencies and trading like A+ at a weighted spread of 70 bp.
Next results Next results expected around 26 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | C$18.4B | C$17.3B | C$17.0B | C$16.8B | C$17.1B |
| Revenue growth | — | +2% | +1% | -2% | — |
| Gross profit | C$8.13B | C$7.76B | C$7.36B | C$7.51B | C$7.73B |
| EBITDA | C$8.83B | C$8.53B | C$8.22B | C$8.41B | C$8.57B |
| Net income | C$4.85B | C$4.72B | C$4.45B | C$5.62B | C$5.12B |
| Free cash flow | C$3.84B | C$3.39B | C$3.15B | C$3.78B | C$3.92B |
| Capital expenditure | C$3.17B | C$3.66B | C$3.55B | C$3.19B | C$2.75B |
| Total debt | C$23.2B | C$21.6B | C$21.4B | C$18.9B | C$15.9B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian National Railway CNR.TO | $75.0B | +16% | +7% | 38% | 20.0× | 9.4% |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP.TO | $80.6B | +12% | +7% | 37% | 23.0× | 17.4% |
| Union Pacific UNP | $172B | +10% | +7% | 40% | 20.7× | 8.8% |
| CSX CSX | $90.5B | +10% | +6% | 36% | 21.5× | 13.6% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | CNR.TO | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +6.2% | +6.7% | 4th highest of 7 |
| 6-month return | +15.8% | +10.1% | highest of 7 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -5.4% | -8.1% | 3rd highest of 7 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +6.8% | +6.2% | 3rd highest of 7 |
| Operating margin | 37.6% | 36.6% | 3rd highest of 7 |
| Forward P/E | 20.0× | 21.1× | 3rd cheapest of 7 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 9.4% | 13.6% | 3rd least demanding of 6 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +4.6% | +5.9% | 2nd lowest of 6 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +4.8 pp | +4.2 pp | 3rd most demanding of 6 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.8 pp | +1.0 pp | 3rd highest of 7 |
| EV / EBITDA | 14.4× | 15.3× | 2nd cheapest of 6 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.5× | 2.7× | 3rd least indebted of 6 |
| Bond spread | 70 bp | 74 bp | 2nd tightest of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian National Railway CNR.TO | Canada | $75.0B | +16% | +7% | 38% | 20.0× | 9.4% | +4.6% |
| Norfolk Southern NSC | United States | $71.9B | +3% | +6% | 33% | 22.6× | 16.6% | +4.5% |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP.TO | Canada | $80.6B | +12% | +7% | 37% | 23.0× | 17.4% | +14.4% |
| CSX CSX | United States | $90.5B | +10% | +6% | 36% | 21.5× | 13.6% | +5.9% |
| Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway 601816.SS | China | $39.3B | +9% | +3% | 44% | 18.7× | -2.8% | +11.3% |
| Union Pacific UNP | United States | $172B | +10% | +7% | 40% | 20.7× | 8.8% | +4.6% |
| East Japan Railway 9020.T | Japan | $27.4B | +13% | +9% | 14% | 15.8× | n/a | n/a |
Canadian National Railway has 1 bond outstanding with $300M face value. The agencies rate it A-; its bonds trade like A+. Weighted yield 5.97%, a spread of 70 bp over government bonds.