CSX Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

CSX (NYS: CSX) reported earnings on Jan. 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended Dec. 28 (Q4), CSX beat slightly on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue dropped slightly and GAAP earnings per share stayed the same.


Gross margins expanded, operating margins contracted, net margins dropped.

Revenue details
 CSX logged revenue of $2.90 billion. The 20 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see sales of $2.85 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 2.3% lower than the prior-year quarter's $2.95 billion.

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

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.43. The 28 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated $0.39 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.43 were the same as the prior-year quarter.

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

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 37.3%, 80 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 27.9%, 60 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 15.4%, 10 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $2.96 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.42.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $11.96 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.84.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 2,035 members out of 2,108 rating the stock outperform, and 73 members rating it underperform. Among 479 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 468 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 $24.58.

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The article CSX Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines 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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