Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC
Slide the table for earlier years · "·" marks a figure not available in our data for that year.
What this company does
Written from the business description in NORFOLK SOUTHERN CORP's annual report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed 9 February 2026. Every sentence was checked against that document before publication.
Growth
Revenue compounded at +4.5% a year over the five years to FY2025 — but profit grew faster: net income at +7.4%, earnings per share at +10.2%.
The share count fell from 0.25B to 0.22B — the buyback concentrates the same profit into fewer slices.
Compound annual rates per period — left blank where that exact year isn't on file, the series crosses a loss, or (per-share rows) a split falls inside the window.
Profitability
Each USD of equity produced 19 cents of profit this year.
The 19-year record
| Metric | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue $B | 12.2 | 12.1 | 12.2 | 12.7 | 11.1 | 9.8 | 11.3 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 9.9 | 10.5 | 11.6 | 11.2 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 9.5 | 8.0 | 10.7 | 9.4 |
| Operating income $B | 4.4 | 4.1 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 2.6 |
| EBITDA $B | 5.7 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 4.6 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 3.4 |
| Income tax $B | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | −2.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.8 |
| Net income $B | 2.9 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 5.4 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Free cash flow $B | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 1.0 |
| EPS, diluted $ | 12.75 | 11.57 | 8.02 | 13.88 | 12.11 | 7.84 | 10.25 | 9.51 | 18.61 | 5.62 | 5.10 | 6.39 | 6.04 | 5.37 | 5.45 | 4.00 | 2.76 | 4.52 | 3.68 |
| Dividend / sh $ | 5.40 | 5.40 | 5.40 | 4.96 | 4.16 | 3.76 | 3.60 | 3.04 | 2.44 | 2.36 | 2.36 | 2.22 | 2.04 | 1.94 | 1.66 | 1.40 | 1.36 | 1.22 | 0.96 |
| Payout % | 42 | 47 | 67 | 36 | 34 | 48 | 35 | 32 | 13 | 42 | 46 | 34 | 33 | 36 | 30 | 34 | 48 | 27 | 26 |
| ROE % | 19.2 | 19.4 | 14.3 | 24.8 | 21.1 | 13.4 | 17.8 | 16.8 | 37.6 | 13.6 | 12.7 | 16.9 | 18.1 | 17.8 | 18.6 | 14.2 | 10.4 | 17.8 | 15.1 |
| Shares out B | 0.22 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.24 | 0.25 | 0.26 | 0.27 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.30 | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.33 | 0.36 | 0.37 | 0.37 | ◌ |
Slide the table for earlier years. "—" not applicable · "◌" not available in our data.
Company facts, as filed
Reconciled in 19 of the 19 fiscal years we could check. Two checks were skipped: the balance sheet is not tagged before 2008. One check was skipped: the share count is not tagged before 2008.