J.B. Hunt vs Norfolk Southern
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The short version
- Norfolk Southern is the larger business, with $12.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $12.0B for J.B. Hunt.
- Norfolk Southern grew revenue faster (0.5%, against −0.7%).
- Norfolk Southern kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (35.8% operating margin, against 7.2%).
- Norfolk Southern turned more of its sales into free cash flow (17.7% FCF margin, against 7.9%).
- J.B. Hunt earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.1%, against 11.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of J.B. Hunt’s earnings: a P/E of 31.8x against 27.7x for Norfolk Southern.
| Latest fiscal year | JBHT · FY25 | NSC · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $21.4B | $74.3B |
| Revenue | $12.0B | $12.2B |
| Free cash flow | $948M | $2.2B |
| Net income | $598M | $2.9B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −0.7% | 0.5% |
| 5-year growth | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| Share count change | −4.9% | −0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 7.2% | 35.8% |
| Net margin | 5.0% | 23.6% |
| FCF margin | 7.9% | 17.7% |
| Return on capital | 13.1% | 11.2% |
| Return on equity | 15.8% | 19.3% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $1.4B | $15.6B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.9x | 2.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.1B | $1.7B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 31.8x | 27.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
JBHT $6.6B
NSC $9.9B
FY17
JBHT $7.2B
NSC $10.6B
FY18
JBHT $8.6B
NSC $11.5B
FY19
JBHT $9.2B
NSC $11.3B
FY20
JBHT $9.6B
NSC $9.8B
FY21
JBHT $12.2B
NSC $11.1B
FY22
JBHT $14.8B
NSC $12.7B
FY23
JBHT $12.8B
NSC $12.2B
FY24
JBHT $12.1B
NSC $12.1B
FY25
JBHT $12.0B
NSC $12.2B
JBHT
NSC
Operating margin
FY16
JBHT 11.0%
NSC 30.4%
FY17
JBHT 8.7%
NSC 33.4%
FY18
JBHT 7.9%
NSC 34.6%
FY19
JBHT 8.0%
NSC 35.3%
FY20
JBHT 7.4%
NSC 30.7%
FY21
JBHT 8.6%
NSC 39.9%
FY22
JBHT 9.0%
NSC 37.7%
FY23
JBHT 7.7%
NSC 23.5%
FY24
JBHT 6.9%
NSC 33.6%
FY25
JBHT 7.2%
NSC 35.8%
JBHT
NSC
Free cash flow
FY16
JBHT $216M
NSC $1.1B
FY17
JBHT $328M
NSC $1.5B
FY18
JBHT $92.2M
NSC $1.8B
FY19
JBHT $244M
NSC $1.9B
FY20
JBHT $384M
NSC $2.1B
FY21
JBHT $276M
NSC $2.8B
FY22
JBHT $236M
NSC $2.3B
FY23
JBHT −$118M
NSC $852M
FY24
JBHT $618M
NSC $1.7B
FY25
JBHT $948M
NSC $2.2B
JBHT
NSC
Return on capital
FY16
JBHT 21.9%
NSC 9.1%
FY17
JBHT 23.5%
NSC 14.9%
FY18
JBHT 16.9%
NSC 11.8%
FY19
JBHT 16.4%
NSC 11.8%
FY20
JBHT 15.2%
NSC 9.0%
FY21
JBHT 21.8%
NSC 13.0%
FY22
JBHT 23.5%
NSC 14.1%
FY23
JBHT 15.1%
NSC 8.0%
FY24
JBHT 12.1%
NSC 11.0%
FY25
JBHT 13.1%
NSC 11.2%
JBHT
NSC
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.