Rail sector earnings season kicks off this month with companies likely to cite the impact of the extreme cold that hit much of the U.S. at the end of 2022.
“For the second consecutive quarter, overall rail volume growth fell short of our original expectation,” wrote Benchmark analyst Nathan Martin, in a note released Tuesday. Martin said the weather was a “significant driver,” noting that cold weather in December forced trains to go slower. Nonetheless, autos have performed well across the rail sector as dealers continue to restock and chip availability improves, according to Benchmark’s Martin. “As expected, grain volumes were strong; however, based on our conversations, could have been even better if not for heavy rains and port congestion in Western Canada,” he added. “The coal segment was also positive with export demand and domestic restocking driving growth.
Benchmark has a hold rating for Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. CP and Canadian National Railway Co. CNI . Raymond James also raised its CSX price target to $36 from $33 and reiterated its outperform rating for the company on Monday. “CSX continues to execute its PSR initiatives that we expect will continue to drive operational improvement, translating to stronger revenues, margin, EPS, and FCF gains in coming years,” wrote Raymond James analyst Patrick Tyler Brown, in a note.