Norfolk Southern's 2Q Results: Postgame Scorecard

For the second quarter, Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) saw a decline in net income.

Earnings and Revenue The company managed to beat EPS estimates, though the company's revenues failed to top expectations. The company reported EPS of $1.60 a share versus the $1.53 a share estimate and revenues of $2.87 billion versus the $2.95 billion estimate. The estimates of 22 analysts ranged from profit of $1.41 to profit of $1.65.

The company's net income for the quarter was $524 million. According to the reported number, this is down 5.9% from last year's levels. Revenue climbed 0.3% from $2.87 billion in the same period last year.

Company Fundamental Trends With last quarter's falling profit, The company ends a run of at least four consecutive quarters of year-over-year profit increases. The company's revenue has grown during at least each of the past four quarters on a year-over-year basis.

History Against Expectations The company has managed to top estimates the last two quarters. In the first quarter, it beat expectations with net income of $1.23 versus a mean estimate of net income of $1.12 per share.

Official Comment: "In the second quarter, Norfolk Southern continued to deliver outstanding results. Our income from operations, diluted earnings per share and improved operating ratio all set records, despite the slow economic recovery and softness in our coal franchise," said CEO Wick Moorman. "Our railroad continues to operate extremely well, and that enables us to control costs and operate efficiently while providing high levels of service for our customers."

Estimates provided by Zacks Investment Research and company fundamentals from Xignite Financials.