Jacobs Solutions
J · Construction & Engineering
$145.06
0.8%Norfolk Southern
NSC · Rail Transportation
$329.99
2.4%The short version
- Norfolk Southern is the larger business, with $12.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $12.0B for Jacobs Solutions.
- Jacobs Solutions grew revenue faster (4.6%, against 0.5%).
- Norfolk Southern kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (35.8% operating margin, against 7.2% operating margin).
- Norfolk Southern turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.7% FCF margin, against 5.1% FCF margin).
- Norfolk Southern earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.2%, against 10.1%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Jacobs Solutions’s earnings: a P/E of 50.9x against 27.7x for Norfolk Southern.
| Latest fiscal year | J · FY25 | NSC · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $17.2B | $74.3B |
| Revenue | $12.0B | $12.2B |
| Free cash flow | $607M | $2.2B |
| Net income | $289M | $2.9B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 4.6% | 0.5% |
| 5-year growth | −2.4% | 4.5% |
| Share count change | −3.1% | −0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 24.8% | — |
| Operating margin | 7.2% | 35.8% |
| Net margin | 2.4% | 23.6% |
| FCF margin | 5.1% | 17.7% |
| Return on capital | 10.1% | 11.2% |
| Return on equity | 7.1% | 19.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.0B | $15.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.1x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $907M | $1.7B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 50.9x | 27.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
FY16
J $11.0B
NSC $9.9B
FY17
J $10.0B
NSC $10.6B
FY18
J $15.0B
NSC $11.5B
FY19
J $12.7B
NSC $11.3B
FY20
J $13.6B
NSC $9.8B
FY21
J $14.1B
NSC $11.1B
FY22
J $9.8B
NSC $12.7B
FY23
J $10.9B
NSC $12.2B
FY24
J $11.5B
NSC $12.1B
FY25
J $12.0B
NSC $12.2B
J
NSC
FY16
J 3.1%
NSC 30.4%
FY17
J 2.4%
NSC 33.4%
FY18
J 2.6%
NSC 34.6%
FY19
J 3.2%
NSC 35.3%
FY20
J 4.0%
NSC 30.7%
FY21
J 4.9%
NSC 39.9%
FY22
J 5.5%
NSC 37.7%
FY23
J 6.2%
NSC 23.5%
FY24
J 6.0%
NSC 33.6%
FY25
J 7.2%
NSC 35.8%
J
NSC
FY16
J $612M
NSC $1.1B
FY17
J $457M
NSC $1.5B
FY18
J $386M
NSC $1.8B
FY19
J −$502M
NSC $1.9B
FY20
J $689M
NSC $2.1B
FY21
J $633M
NSC $2.8B
FY22
J $347M
NSC $2.3B
FY23
J $837M
NSC $852M
FY24
J $934M
NSC $1.7B
FY25
J $607M
NSC $2.2B
J
NSC
FY16
J 5.9%
NSC 9.1%
FY17
J 4.2%
NSC 14.9%
FY18
J 3.4%
NSC 11.8%
FY19
J 5.3%
NSC 11.8%
FY20
J 7.2%
NSC 9.0%
FY21
J 5.7%
NSC 13.0%
FY22
J 5.7%
NSC 14.1%
FY23
J 6.4%
NSC 8.0%
FY24
J 8.0%
NSC 11.0%
FY25
J 10.1%
NSC 11.2%
J
NSC
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Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.