Loading…
Operates a major freight railroad network across the eastern United States.
Operates a major freight railroad network across the eastern United States.
Is paid per shipment, with rates set by distance, commodity and contract, and kept in check by what customers could pay a trucker instead. It serves major eastern ports and connects with western railroads, so many shipments are long hauls handed off to or from them.
Moat: wide (scale, regulatory licence, installed base). Owning irreplaceable eastern US rail rights-of-way makes it a natural duopoly on many routes with Norfolk Southern.
Headquarters: Jacksonville, Florida, United States · Founded: 1980 · Employees: 23,000
Size CSX (CSX) is a United States Industrials company (Railroads) with a market value of $90.5B, the 144th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $49.12 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 9.9%, against +11.0% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 3rd lowest of 7 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 5.8% over the last twelve months (peer median +6.7%); the operating margin is 36.4% (peer median 37.2%).
Valuation It trades at 21.5× forward earnings against a peer median of 20.3× (3rd most expensive of 7).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 14% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +6%, so the hurdle is +8 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 (9.5% WACC).
Credit CSX has 28 bonds outstanding ($17.7B), rated BBB+ by the agencies and trading like A+ at a weighted spread of 72 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 2.2% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 27 Jan 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $14.9B | $14.1B | $14.5B | $14.7B | $14.9B |
| Revenue growth | — | -3% | -1% | -1% | — |
| Gross profit | $5.44B | $4.88B | $5.51B | $5.60B | $5.93B |
| EBITDA | $7.08B | $6.42B | $7.05B | $7.10B | $7.29B |
| Net income | $3.58B | $2.89B | $3.47B | $3.67B | $4.17B |
| Free cash flow | $3.21B | $1.71B | $2.72B | $3.26B | $3.49B |
| Capital expenditure | $2.39B | $2.90B | $2.53B | $2.26B | $2.13B |
| Total debt | $19.3B | $19.4B | $19.1B | $19.1B | $18.6B |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSX CSX | $90.5B | +10% | +6% | 36% | 21.5× | 13.6% |
| Norfolk Southern NSC | $71.9B | +3% | +6% | 33% | 22.6× | 16.6% |
| Union Pacific UNP | $172B | +10% | +7% | 40% | 20.7× | 8.8% |
| 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% |
| J.B. Hunt JBHT | $20.3B | -11% | +11% | 7% | 24.3× | 16.8% |
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 | CSX | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +3.8% | +7.6% | 2nd lowest of 7 |
| 6-month return | +9.9% | +11.0% | 3rd lowest of 7 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -8.4% | -6.8% | 2nd lowest of 7 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +5.8% | +6.7% | 2nd lowest of 7 |
| Operating margin | 36.4% | 37.2% | 3rd lowest of 7 |
| Forward P/E | 21.5× | 20.3× | 3rd most expensive of 7 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 13.6% | 9.4% | 3rd most demanding of 6 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +5.9% | +4.6% | 3rd highest of 6 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | +7.7 pp | +4.2 pp | 2nd most demanding of 6 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | +3.8 pp | +1.0 pp | 2nd highest of 7 |
| EV / EBITDA | 15.3× | 15.3× | 3rd most expensive of 6 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.5× | 2.7× | 2nd least indebted of 6 |
| Bond spread | 72 bp | 73 bp | 3rd tightest of 5 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSX CSX | United States | $90.5B | +10% | +6% | 36% | 21.5× | 13.6% | +5.9% |
| Canadian Pacific Kansas City CP.TO | Canada | $80.6B | +12% | +7% | 37% | 23.0× | 17.4% | +14.4% |
| 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% |
| Union Pacific UNP | United States | $172B | +10% | +7% | 40% | 20.7× | 8.8% | +4.6% |
| Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway 601816.SS | China | $39.3B | +9% | +3% | 44% | 18.7× | -2.8% | +11.3% |
| East Japan Railway 9020.T | Japan | $27.4B | +13% | +9% | 14% | 15.8× | n/a | n/a |
CSX has 28 bonds outstanding with $17.7B face value. The agencies rate it BBB+; its bonds trade like A+. Weighted yield 5.72%, a spread of 72 bp over government bonds.