CSX Q3 2026: record $4.02 billion revenue, EPS $0.57, margin 39.1%
CSX beat on the top and bottom line: revenue of $4.02 billion rose 12.0% and EPS of $0.57 cleared the $0.54 consensus, with operating margin at 39.1%. Read the quarter against last year's adjusted base, not the reported one — a $164 million goodwill impairment flattered the headline growth rates. The rest of this note walks through revenue, earnings, missing guidance and the balance sheet.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowDiluted EPS of $0.57 beat the $0.5373 consensus by roughly 6.1% and was up 54% from $0.37 a year earlier. That jump is inflated: last year's quarter absorbed a $164 million non-cash goodwill impairment, and against the adjusted $0.44 base EPS rose about 30%. Net income of $1.05 billion likewise compares with an adjusted $818 million, up 29%.
Revenue of $4.02 billion rose 12.0% from $3.59 billion a year earlier, and management credits increased fuel surcharge revenue plus higher volume and pricing across merchandise, intermodal and coal. Volume of 1.69 million units was up 5.0%, with intermodal up 7.0%, so price and fuel did a lot of the lifting. Sequentially revenue grew 2.1% from the $3.94 billion booked in Q2 2026.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-10-21
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