Norfolk Southern (NSC) Q4 FY2025 earnings: revenue $3.0 billion, down 1.7% on the year

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC) reported revenue of $3.0 billion for Q4 FY2025, the quarter ended 31 December 2025, down 1.7% on the same quarter a year earlier. Net income was $644 million, down 12.1% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $2.87. The figures are the company's own, from the 10-K it filed with the SEC on 9 February 2026.

Revenue

$3.0 billion

-1.7% on the year · -4.2% on the quarter

Q1 FY2024Q4 FY2025

Operating margin

31.5%

37.4% a year earlier

Q1 FY2024Q4 FY2025

Net income

$644 million

-12.1% on the year · -9.4% on the quarter

Q1 FY2024Q4 FY2025

Diluted EPS

$2.87

-11.4% on the year · -9.2% on the quarter

Q1 FY2024Q4 FY2025

this quarterthe same quarter a year earlierHover a bar for its figure.

What management said

Quarter revenue, income and ratio: Q4 revenue was $3.0 billion, income from railway operations $937 million, operating ratio 68.5%, and diluted EPS $2.87. Adjusted for merger-related expenses and the Eastern Ohio incident, operating ratio was 65.3% and diluted EPS $3.22.
Full-year operating ratio improved: Full-year income from railway operations rose $285 million, or 7%, to $4.4 billion. Full-year operating ratio was 64.2%, a 220 basis point improvement from 66.4% in 2024.
Quarter revenue down on volume: Q4 railway operating revenues were $3.0 billion, down $50 million or 2%, on a volume decline of 4% year over year.

Read the earnings call summary

Income statement (profit and loss)

$ million	Q4 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2024	On the quarter	On the year
Revenue	2,974	3,103	3,024	-4.2%	-1.7%
Operating income	937	1,098	1,131	-14.7%	-17.2%
Operating margin	31.5%	35.4%	37.4%
Interest expense	195	197	199	-1.0%	-2.0%
Pre-tax income	765	924	928	-17.2%	-17.6%
Income tax	121	213	195	-43.2%	-37.9%
Effective tax rate	15.8%	23.1%	21.0%
Net income	644	711	733	-9.4%	-12.1%
Net margin	21.7%	22.9%	24.2%
Diluted EPS	$2.87	$3.16	$3.24	-9.2%	-11.4%

$ million except per share.

Fourth quarters are the year less the first three quarters. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Those four are arithmetic on the filed numbers; everything else is as filed. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and share counts are as they are.

Cash flow

$ million	Q4 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2024	On the quarter	On the year
Operating cash flow	1,063	1,271	951	-16.4%	+11.8%
Capital expenditure	729	551	675	+32.3%	+8.0%
Free cash flow	334	720	276	-53.6%	+21.0%
Free cash flow margin	11.2%	23.2%	9.1%
Cash from investing	-644	-483	11.0
Cash from financing	-307	-673	-296
Depreciation and amortisation	353	348	342	+1.4%	+3.2%
Share-based compensation	11.0	17.0	13.0	-35.3%	-15.4%
Buybacks	0.0	78.0	0.0
Dividends paid	303	303	306	0.0%	-1.0%
Dividend per share	n/a	$1.35	n/a
Diluted shares, weighted	225m	225m	226m	+0.3%	-0.5%
Shares outstanding at period end	224m	224m	226m	+0.0%	-0.8%

Cash flow lines for the quarter; where the company files them year to date, the quarter is the difference between two filings.

Balance sheet

$ million	Q4 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2024	On the quarter	On the year
Shareholders' equity	15,547	15,141	14,306	+2.7%	+8.7%
Debt	17,087	17,083	17,206	+0.0%	-0.7%
Operating lease liabilities	148	n/a	191		-22.5%
Other liabilities	12,454	12,356	11,979	+0.8%	+4.0%
Total liabilities and equity	45,236	44,580	43,682	+1.5%	+3.6%
Fixed assets	36,479	36,112	35,831	+1.0%	+1.8%
Investments	4,089	4,081	3,370	+0.2%	+21.3%
Cash and equivalents	1,530	1,418	1,641	+7.9%	-6.8%
Receivables	988	1,102	1,069	-10.3%	-7.6%
Other assets	2,150	1,867	1,771	+15.2%	+21.4%
Total assets	45,236	44,580	43,682	+1.5%	+3.6%

Questions

What was Norfolk Southern's revenue in Q4 FY2025?

Norfolk Southern (NSC) reported revenue of $3.0 billion for Q4 FY2025, the quarter ended 31 December 2025, down 1.7% on the same quarter a year earlier.

How much did Norfolk Southern earn in Q4 FY2025?

Net income for Q4 FY2025 was $644 million, down 12.1% on the year, and diluted earnings per share $2.87.

When did Norfolk Southern report Q4 FY2025 results?

Norfolk Southern filed its 10-K for the year that ended with the quarter on 9 February 2026; the fourth quarter is the year less the first three.

Quarterly results, the last 20 quarters

	Q4 FY2021 *	Q1 FY2022	Q2 FY2022	Q3 FY2022	Q4 FY2022 *	Q1 FY2023	Q2 FY2023	Q3 FY2023	Q4 FY2023 *	Q1 FY2024	Q2 FY2024	Q3 FY2024	Q4 FY2024 *	Q1 FY2025	Q2 FY2025	Q3 FY2025	Q4 FY2025 *	Q1 FY2026	Q2 FY2026	Q3 FY2026
Revenue	2,852	2,915	3,250	3,343	3,237	3,132	2,980	2,971	3,073	3,004	3,044	3,051	3,024	2,993	3,110	3,103	2,974	2,998	3,465	3,526
Operating income	1,129	1,085	1,271	1,272	1,181	711	576	756	808	213	1,131	1,596	1,131	1,146	1,175	1,098	937	877	1,124	1,150
Operating margin	40%	37%	39%	38%	36%	23%	19%	25%	26%	7%	37%	52%	37%	38%	38%	35%	32%	29%	32%	33%
Interest expense	165	168	170	177	177	175	170	182	195	201	204	203	199	199	201	197	195	197	197	193
Pre-tax income	985	912	1,087	1,093	1,038	592	463	614	651	30.0	944	1,427	928	978	998	924	765	715	959	987
Tax rate	23%	23%	25%	12%	24%	21%	23%	22%	19%	-77%	22%	23%	21%	23%	23%	23%	16%	23%	23%	23%
Net income	760	703	819	958	790	466	356	478	527	53.0	737	1,099	733	750	768	711	644	547	734	759
Net margin	27%	24%	25%	29%	24%	15%	12%	16%	17%	2%	24%	36%	24%	25%	25%	23%	22%	18%	21%	22%
Diluted EPS	$3.11	$2.93	$3.45	$4.10	$3.40	$2.04	$1.56	$2.10	$2.32	$0.23	$3.25	$4.85	$3.24	$3.31	$3.41	$3.16	$2.87	$2.43	$3.26	$3.37
Operating cash flow	942	994	1,017	1,413	798	1,173	673	660	673	839	1,036	1,226	951	950	1,077	1,271	1,063	344	1,054	1,322
Capital expenditure	445	389	448	445	666	428	520	548	853	557	568	581	675	449	475	551	729	382	439	586
Free cash flow	497	605	569	968	132	745	153	112	-180	282	468	645	276	501	602	720	334	-38.0	615	736
Buybacks	930	600	854	830	826	163	140	200	119	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	248	208	78.0	0.0	5.0	0.0	0.0
Dividends paid	264	297	294	290	286	307	308	305	305	305	305	305	306	306	303	303	303	303	303	304
Shares outstanding	240m	238m	235m	232m	228m	228m	227m	226m	226m	226m	226m	226m	226m	225m	225m	224m	224m	225m	225m	225m
Filing	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q	10-K	10-Q	10-Q	10-Q

Each quarter as filed, linked to its filing.

* The fourth quarter is the full year less the first three quarters, because the company files the year and not the quarter on its own. A fourth quarter's EPS, and its diluted share count where shown, are from the company's results press release for that quarter, checked against the company's filed figures or a second data source. Money is in $ million as the company files it, or in $ billion by the switch above the tables; per share figures and the share count are as they are. Free cash flow is operating cash flow less capital expenditure; the effective tax rate is income tax over pre-tax income; margins are the line over revenue. Gross profit is revenue less cost of revenue, and operating income is revenue less the company's own total costs, where the statement does not print those lines. Cash flow lines filed year to date are the difference between two filings. Shares outstanding are at the period end where the balance sheet tags them, otherwise the count on the filing's cover page. A derived fourth-quarter EPS is left blank when a split in the year makes the arithmetic meaningless.

10-K for the period ended 31 December 2025, filed 9 February 2026: the filing.