CSX vs Union Pacific
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The short version
- Union Pacific is the larger business, with $24.5B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $14.1B for CSX, about 1.7 times as much.
- Union Pacific grew revenue faster (1.1%, against −3.1%).
- Union Pacific kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (40.2% operating margin, against 32.1%).
- Union Pacific turned more of its sales into free cash flow (22.4% FCF margin, against 12.1%).
- Union Pacific earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (15.9%, against 11.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CSX’s earnings: a P/E of 26.5x against 22.8x for Union Pacific.
| Latest fiscal year | CSX · FY25 | UNP · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $94.1B | $174.1B |
| Revenue | $14.1B | $24.5B |
| Free cash flow | $1.7B | $5.5B |
| Net income | $2.9B | $7.1B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −3.1% | 1.1% |
| 5-year growth | 5.9% | 4.6% |
| Share count change | −3.6% | −2.1% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 32.1% | 40.2% |
| Net margin | 20.5% | 29.1% |
| FCF margin | 12.1% | 22.4% |
| Return on capital | 11.3% | 15.9% |
| Return on equity | 22.5% | 40.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $18.2B | $30.7B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.9x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $2.4B | $5.9B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 26.5x | 22.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
CSX $11.1B
UNP $19.9B
FY17
CSX $11.4B
UNP $21.2B
FY18
CSX $12.3B
UNP $22.8B
FY19
CSX $11.9B
UNP $21.7B
FY20
CSX $10.6B
UNP $19.5B
FY21
CSX $12.5B
UNP $21.8B
FY22
CSX $14.9B
UNP $24.9B
FY23
CSX $14.7B
UNP $24.1B
FY24
CSX $14.5B
UNP $24.3B
FY25
CSX $14.1B
UNP $24.5B
CSX
UNP
Operating margin
FY16
CSX 30.8%
UNP 36.3%
FY17
CSX 32.6%
UNP 38.2%
FY18
CSX 39.8%
UNP 37.3%
FY19
CSX 41.6%
UNP 39.4%
FY20
CSX 41.2%
UNP 40.1%
FY21
CSX 44.7%
UNP 42.8%
FY22
CSX 40.1%
UNP 39.9%
FY23
CSX 37.5%
UNP 37.7%
FY24
CSX 36.1%
UNP 40.1%
FY25
CSX 32.1%
UNP 40.2%
CSX
UNP
Free cash flow
FY16
CSX $643M
UNP $4.0B
FY17
CSX $1.4B
UNP $4.0B
FY18
CSX $2.9B
UNP $5.2B
FY19
CSX $3.2B
UNP $5.2B
FY20
CSX $2.6B
UNP $5.6B
FY21
CSX $3.3B
UNP $6.1B
FY22
CSX $3.4B
UNP $5.7B
FY23
CSX $3.3B
UNP $4.8B
FY24
CSX $2.7B
UNP $5.9B
FY25
CSX $1.7B
UNP $5.5B
CSX
UNP
Return on capital
FY16
CSX 10.0%
UNP 13.5%
FY17
CSX 15.5%
UNP 21.9%
FY18
CSX 14.3%
UNP 16.0%
FY19
CSX 14.6%
UNP 15.4%
FY20
CSX 12.6%
UNP 14.0%
FY21
CSX 15.8%
UNP 16.8%
FY22
CSX 16.4%
UNP 17.4%
FY23
CSX 14.5%
UNP 15.4%
FY24
CSX 13.5%
UNP 15.9%
FY25
CSX 11.3%
UNP 15.9%
CSX
UNP
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.