Canadian National Stock Rises 2.8% Since Q4 Earnings Release

Canadian National Railway Company CNI reported impressive fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein both earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

The better-than-expected results and the announcement of a dividend hike had a positive impact on the market as the stock has gained 2.8% since the earnings release on Jan. 30.

Earnings of $1.49 per share (C$2.03) outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.2% and increased 14.6% year over year. Revenues amounted to $3.20 billion (C$4.46 billion), which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.5% and rose 2.8% year over year.

Canadian National Railway Company Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Canadian National Railway Company price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Canadian National Railway Company Quote

Revenue ton-miles (RTMs or a measure of volumes) increased 4% year over year. Carloads rose 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Freight revenues per RTM fell 0.85% year over year.

Operating expenses for the fourth quarter of 2025 remained flat at $2.73 billion year over year. This was mainly due to prudent cost-cutting efforts.

The operating income grew 6% from fourth-quarter 2024 actuals. The operating ratio, defined as operating expenses as a percentage of revenues on an adjusted basis, improved by 140 basis points to 61.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

CNI’s Q4 Segmental Highlights

Freight revenues, which contributed 97% to the top line, increased 3% year over year. Freight revenues in petroleum and chemicals, grain and fertilizers, intermodal and automotive rose 4%, 6%, 10% and 4%, year over year, respectively. Metals and minerals, forest products and coal fell 4%, 8% and 1% on a year-over-year basis.

Segment-wise, carloads in petroleum and chemicals, coal, grain and fertilizers, and intermodal segments increased 2%, 4%, 4% and 10% on a year-over-year basis.

Carloads in the metals and minerals and forest products segments decreased 9% and 7%, respectively, on a year-over-year basis. The same in the automotive segment remained flat on a year-over-year basis.

CNI’s Liquidity

Canadian National ended the fourth quarter of 2025 with cash and cash equivalents of C$350 million compared with C$389 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024. CNI exited the September-end quarter with a long-term debt of C$20.3 billion compared with C$19.7 billion at the close of the December quarter of 2024.

CNI generated C$2.23 billion of cash from operating activities. Free cash flow was C$995 million.

Dividend Hiked

Highlighting its shareholder-friendly stance, the Canadian railroad operator’s board of directors approved a 3% increase in the 2026 dividend on the company's outstanding common shares. Following the increase, a quarterly dividend of C$0.9150 per share will be paid on Mar.31, 2026, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Mar. 10. The earlier quarterly dividend was C$0.887. This is the 30th consecutive year of dividend increase

CNI’s board also approved a new normal course issuer bid that permits the railroad to purchase, for cancellation, up to 24 million common shares, between Feb. 4, 2026, and Feb. 3, 2027.

CNI’s Outlook

For full-year 2026, CNI anticipates adjusted earnings per share (EPS) growth to slightly exceed volume growth and plans to invest approximately C$2.8 billion in its capital program, net of amounts reimbursed by customers. Volume growth in terms of RTMs is anticipated to remain flat.

CNI’s Zacks Rank

Currently, CNI has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Q4 Performances of Some Other Airline Companies

Delta Air Lines DAL reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings (excluding 31 cents from non-recurring items) of $1.55 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.53. Earnings decreased 16.22% on a year-over-year basis due to high labor costs.

Revenues in the December-end quarter were $16 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $15.63 billion and increasing 2.9% on a year-over-year basis.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. JBHT reported fourth-quarter 2025 earnings of $1.90 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 and improved 24.2% year over year.

Total operating revenues of $3.09 billion lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.12 billion and were down 1.6% year over year.

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. UAL reported solid fourth-quarter 2025 results, wherein the company’s earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

UAL's fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted EPS (excluding 9 cents from non-recurring items) of $3.10 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.98 but declined 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. The reported figure lies within the guided range of $3.00-$3.50.

Operating revenues of $15.4 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate marginally by 0.1% and increased 4.8% year over year.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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