Norfolk Southern Profit up 4% as Rates, Performance Improve

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Norfolk Southern railroad delivered 4% more fourth-quarter profit even though the number of shipments it hauled dipped slightly because it collected more surcharges for higher fuel prices and raised the rates it charges.

The Atlanta-based railroad reported fourth-quarter profit of $790 million, or $3.42 per share even though volume was down 1%. Thats up from $760 million, or $3.12 per share, a year earlier.

The results came in ahead of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $3.41 per share.

Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw said the railroad's operating performance improved throughout 2022 ever since the worst of the delayed deliveries that shippers complained about last spring, and that continued during the fourth quarter.