CSX profit falls 22% but investors focus on the direction the new CEO will take the railroad

Investors looked past a 22% drop in CSX’s third quarter earnings Thursday and focused on the direction the railroad’s new CEO might take it and the possibility of any strategic deals.

CEO Steve Angel promised to focus on making CSX the best-performing railroad. Without promising a merger, Angel said he would consider any strategic opportunities that make sense for shareholders. He also reminded investors that he ran industrial gas supplier Praxair for a decade before the opportunity to merge with rival Linde came up.

“The way these things work — these strategic opportunities — you’ve got to wait for the right timing. You’ve got to wait for when the conditions are right,” Angel said. “So what you do in the interim, you run the company to the best of your ability every day, and you create value that way. And so if and when that time comes, you’re going into that discussion from a position of strength.”

Thursday’s report was the first since Angel took the job late last month. The railroad is under pressure from investors, such as Ancora Holdings, to find another railroad to merge with, so CSX can better compete with the merged Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern railroad if that $85 billion deal gets approved. But both of CSX’s likely merger partners — BNSF and CPKC railroads — have said they aren’t interested in a deal because they believe the industry can better serve customers through cooperative agreements and avoid all the potential headaches that come with a merger.

Most observers believe CSX and BNSF will be at a disadvantage if the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger is approved. That transcontinental railroad will be able to shave more than a day off delivery times because it won’t have to hand off shipments between railroads in the middle of the country. So far, CSX and BNSF say they can achieve most of the benefits of a merger through cooperative agreements instead.

Angel, 70, has not worked at a railroad before although earlier in his career he worked at GE’s locomotive building unit and developed a lifelong appreciation for railroads. He stressed the similarities between industrial gas companies and railroads, saying both focus on safety and invest heavily in the most profitable areas with the highest traffic.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based company said Thursday it earned $694 million, or 37 cents per share, in the quarter. That’s down from $894 million, or 46 cents per share a year ago. But without a $164 million goodwill impairment charge, the railroad would have earned $818 million, or 44 cents per share.

The adjusted figure just topped the 43 cents per share that analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted.

CSX’s performance has suffered over much of the past year because of construction projects that limited the railroad’s flexibility and reduced capacity. CSX completed repairs from Hurricane Helene and a major tunnel renovation in Baltimore last month. Its performance improved significantly throughout the quarter. The average speed of its trains increased to 18.9 mph, the fastest level since 2021. CSX also delivered 87% of its shipments on time in the quarter.

CSX is one of the largest railroads in North America, operating in the eastern United States.