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CSX Q1 Earnings Miss on Lower Y/Y Revenues, Stock Falls

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CSX Corporation's (CSX - Free Report) first-quarter 2021 earnings of 93 cents per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 95 cents. Moreover, the bottom line declined 7% year over year due to operational disruption as a result of extreme winter weather conditions and lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic on crew availability. Following the earnings release, shares of the company dipped 1.7% in after-market trading on Apr 20.

Total revenues of $2,813 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,810.4 million but dipped 1.5% year over year owing to lower merchandise, coal, and fuel surcharge revenues.

First-quarter operating income decreased 7% to $1,101 million. Operating ratio (operating expenses as a percentage of revenues) deteriorated to 60.9% from 58.7% in the prior-year quarter, with operating expenses increasing 2% year over year due to rise in labor and fringe costs, as well as materials, supplies and other costs. With respect to operating ratio, lower the value, the better.

CSX Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

CSX Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

CSX Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | CSX Corporation Quote

Segmental Performance

Merchandise revenues declined 6% year over year to $1,818 million in the quarter under review. Merchandise volumes also decreased 6% from the year-ago period.

Coal revenues slipped 5% year over year to $384 million in the reported quarter. Coal volumes contracted 5% due to 13% decline in export coal volumes.

Intermodal revenues climbed 11% year over year to $468 million. Volumes increased 10%, with both domestic and international shipments increasing as a result of tightening truck capacity among other factors.

Other revenues jumped 42% to $143 million in the reported quarter.

Liquidity & Share Buyback

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $2,955 million compared with $3,129 million at the end of December 2020. Long-term debt totaled $16,306 million compared with $16,304 million at 2020-end. As of Mar 31, 2021, net cash provided by operating activities was $1,232 million compared with $1,178 million in the year-earlier period. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

As of Mar 31, 2021, CSX repurchased 6 million shares for $551 million.

Sectorial Snapshot

Within the broader Transportation sector, Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) , J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT - Free Report) and Kansas City Southern recently reported first-quarter 2021 results.

Delta, carrying a Zacks Rank #3, incurred a loss (excluding $1.70 from non-recurring items) of $3.55 per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.08. Meanwhile, total revenues of $4,150 million topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,821.3 million.

J.B. Hunt, a Zacks #3-Ranked player, reported earnings of $1.37 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.18. Total operating revenues of $2,618.1 million also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,486.9 million.

Kansas City Southern, carrying a Zacks Rank of 3, reported earnings (excluding 23 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.91 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2. Moreover, quarterly revenues of $706 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $714.3 million.

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