What Does Wall Street See for CSX's Q4?

Updated

CSX (NYS: CSX) is expected to report Q4 earnings on Jan. 22. Here's what Wall Street wants to see:

The 10-second takeaway
Comparing the upcoming quarter to the prior-year quarter, average analyst estimates predict CSX's revenues will contract -3.3% and EPS will shrink -9.3%.

The average estimate for revenue is $2.85 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.39.


Revenue details
Last quarter, CSX notched revenue of $2.89 billion. GAAP reported sales were 2.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.96 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
Last quarter, EPS came in at $0.44. GAAP EPS of $0.44 for Q3 were 2.3% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.43 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Recent performance
For the preceding quarter, gross margin was 38.8%, 70 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 29.5%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.7%, about the same as the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead

The full year's average estimate for revenue is $11.73 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.74.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,032 members out of 2,105 rating the stock outperform, and 73 members rating it underperform. Among 480 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 469 give CSX a green thumbs-up, and 11 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on CSX is outperform, with an average price target of $25.98.

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The article What Does Wall Street See for CSX's Q4? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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