Norfolk Southern
NSC · Rail Transportation
$329.99
2.4%Union Pacific
UNP · Rail Transportation
$292.87
1.8%The short version
- Union Pacific is the larger business, with $24.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $12.2B for Norfolk Southern, about 2.0 times as much.
- Union Pacific grew revenue faster (1.1%, against 0.5%).
- Union Pacific kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (40.2% operating margin, against 35.8% operating margin).
- Union Pacific turned more of its sales into free cash flow (22.4% FCF margin, against 17.7% FCF margin).
- Union Pacific earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (15.9%, against 11.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Norfolk Southern’s earnings: a P/E of 27.7x against 22.8x for Union Pacific.
| Latest fiscal year | NSC · FY25 | UNP · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $74.3B | $174.1B |
| Revenue | $12.2B | $24.5B |
| Free cash flow | $2.2B | $5.5B |
| Net income | $2.9B | $7.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 0.5% | 1.1% |
| 5-year growth | 4.5% | 4.6% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 35.8% | 40.2% |
| Net margin | 23.6% | 29.1% |
| FCF margin | 17.7% | 22.4% |
| Return on capital | 11.2% | 15.9% |
| Return on equity | 19.3% | 40.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $15.6B | $30.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.7x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.7B | $5.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 27.7x | 22.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
FY16
NSC $9.9B
UNP $19.9B
FY17
NSC $10.6B
UNP $21.2B
FY18
NSC $11.5B
UNP $22.8B
FY19
NSC $11.3B
UNP $21.7B
FY20
NSC $9.8B
UNP $19.5B
FY21
NSC $11.1B
UNP $21.8B
FY22
NSC $12.7B
UNP $24.9B
FY23
NSC $12.2B
UNP $24.1B
FY24
NSC $12.1B
UNP $24.3B
FY25
NSC $12.2B
UNP $24.5B
NSC
UNP
FY16
NSC 30.4%
UNP 36.3%
FY17
NSC 33.4%
UNP 38.2%
FY18
NSC 34.6%
UNP 37.3%
FY19
NSC 35.3%
UNP 39.4%
FY20
NSC 30.7%
UNP 40.1%
FY21
NSC 39.9%
UNP 42.8%
FY22
NSC 37.7%
UNP 39.9%
FY23
NSC 23.5%
UNP 37.7%
FY24
NSC 33.6%
UNP 40.1%
FY25
NSC 35.8%
UNP 40.2%
NSC
UNP
FY16
NSC $1.1B
UNP $4.0B
FY17
NSC $1.5B
UNP $4.0B
FY18
NSC $1.8B
UNP $5.2B
FY19
NSC $1.9B
UNP $5.2B
FY20
NSC $2.1B
UNP $5.6B
FY21
NSC $2.8B
UNP $6.1B
FY22
NSC $2.3B
UNP $5.7B
FY23
NSC $852M
UNP $4.8B
FY24
NSC $1.7B
UNP $5.9B
FY25
NSC $2.2B
UNP $5.5B
NSC
UNP
FY16
NSC 9.1%
UNP 13.5%
FY17
NSC 14.9%
UNP 21.9%
FY18
NSC 11.8%
UNP 16.0%
FY19
NSC 11.8%
UNP 15.4%
FY20
NSC 9.0%
UNP 14.0%
FY21
NSC 13.0%
UNP 16.8%
FY22
NSC 14.1%
UNP 17.4%
FY23
NSC 8.0%
UNP 15.4%
FY24
NSC 11.0%
UNP 15.9%
FY25
NSC 11.2%
UNP 15.9%
NSC
UNP
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