If you want to get a line on economic activity in the U.S., the railroad and trucking operators are often a good place to look. Enter Norfolk Southern, which will be updating its operational and financial targets at its Investor Day on Monday.
Norfolk Southern Investor and Financial Analyst Conference (Monday, February 11, 9:00 a.m. ET)
- Why it's important
- Norfolk Southern is a leading transportation company. Its railroad operations span ~21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The company also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern half of the United States.
- NSC primarily engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods primarily in the Southeast, East, and Midwest.
- NSC also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports.
- NSC's merchandise segment comprises five major commodity groups that include automotive; chemicals; metals and construction; agriculture, consumer products and government; and paper, clay and forest products. With heavy exposure to these key merchandise areas, NSC can certainly offer good insight on the pace of economic activity in the eastern half of the U.S.
- Following a fourth quarter report that wasn't lauded universally by analysts, since the results were helped by a large one-time gain, Norfolk Southern said it would be detailing new operational and financial targets, and initiatives to drive shareholder value, at its Investor Day.
- Norfolk Southern is a component in the Dow Jones Transportation Average, so its outlook has the ability to influence the movement of that average, which is viewed as a leading indicator.
- Norfolk Southern is a leading transportation company. Its railroad operations span ~21,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia. The company also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern half of the United States.
- A closer look
- What's in play?
- Norfolk Southern (NSC)
- Other railroad stocks
- CSX Corp (CSX) [this is company's primary competitor]
- Union Pacific (UNP)
- Canadian Pacific (CP)
- Canadian National Railway (CNI)
- Kansas City Southern (KSU)
- Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A/BRK.B) [owner of Burlington Northern Santa Fe]
- Other trucking companies
- JB Hunt (JBHT)
- Werner Enterprises (WERN)
- XPO Logistics (XPO)
- Landstar System (LSTR)
- Swift Transportation (SWFT)
- Knight Transportation (KNX)
- Heartland Express (HTLD)
- Covenant Transportation (CVTI)
- Related ETFs
- Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI)
- iShares Transportation Average (IYT)
- Norfolk Southern (NSC)