Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC): 2Q26 EPS Beat; Raising Estimates; Potential Rail Merger Remains In Focus

Research evidence excerpt

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC): 2Q26 EPS Beat; Raising Estimates; Potential Rail Merger Remains In Focus

Equity Research

23 July 2026 | 4:55PM EDT

Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC): 2Q26 EPS Beat; Raising Estimates;

Potential Rail Merger Remains In Focus

Bottom Line: NSC reported 2Q26 adjusted operating EPS of $3.52 compared to the Jordan Alliger

+1(212)357-4913 |

GSe/FactSet consensus forecast of $3.32. Total revenue of about $3.5B was +3% vs jordan.alliger@gs.com

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

GSe and consensus, while NSC’s adjusted OR of 65.5% was ~100 bps ahead of our

Andrzej Tomczyk, CFA

66.5% forecast (80 bps ahead consensus) – which led to overall adjusted EBIT of +1(212)357-4445 |

$1.2M at +6% above our forecast (+5% vs consensus). Reported OR was 67.6%, but andrzej.tomczyk@gs.comGoldman Sachs & Co. LLC

that included Eastern Ohio incident insurance related costs and merger costs. Paul Stoddard

+1(801)744-3761 |

We continue to believe the potential UNP/NSC merger is likely to dominate the paul.x.stoddard@gs.comGoldman Sachs & Co. LLC

conversation versus fundamental improvement in the near-to-medium term

(See UNP and NSC Announce Agreement on Transcontinental Rail Merger, our initial

Rail M&A Note, the follow-on note UNP Files Merger Application with STB for

Transcontinental Rail Merger with NSC; Upgraded Synergies, and more recently UNP

Re-Files Merger Application with STB for Transcontinental Rail Merger with NSC; High

Level Perspectives and Run-Through).

We note that NSC’s potential future partner UNP also separately announced today

that it reached an agreement with CN to expand customer opportunities in

connection with the pending merger; this establishes a framework for CN to secure

competitive access, Midwest expansion, and terminal ownership interests in