Shares of Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC, +3.64% tacked on 0.3% in premarket trading Wednesday, after the railroad operator reported record third-quarter earnings that beat expectations, boosted by higher fuel surcharges and pricing and “robust” hiring initiatives. Net income rose to $958 million, or $4.10 a share, from $753 million, or $3.06 a share, in the year-ago period. That beat the FactSet consensus for earnings per share of $3.60. Total revenue grew 17.2% to $3.34 billion, above the FactSet consensus of $3.23 billion, with revenue per unit up 20% due to higher fuel surcharges and pricing. Norfolk’s Coal and Merchandise business segments beat revenue expectations, to offset a slight miss by its Intermodal business. Operating expenses rose more than revenue, up 20.7% to $2.07 billion, as operating profit as a percentage of revenue contracted to 38.0% from 39.8%. The stock has dropped 11.8% over the past three months, as the railroad industry faced the threat of labor strikes. In comparison, the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT, +1.69% has slipped 2.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.31% has edged up 0.2%.
