CSX reports lower net income, revenue for Q4

CSX Corp. yesterday reported fourth-quarter 2024 net income of $733 million, or 38 cents per diluted share, down 17% from Q4 2023 net income of $882 million, or 45 cents per diluted share. 

Q4 2024 results included a pretax, noncash goodwill impairment charge of $108 million, according to a CSX press release.

Revenue for the quarter fell 4% year over year to $3.54 billion, as declines in fuel surcharge and coal revenue offset the effects of higher pricing and volume in merchandise and volume growth in intermodal, CSX officials said.

Operating income for Q4 was $1.11 billion, including the goodwill impairment charge, and adjusted operating income was $1.21 billion. In the quarter, CSX’s operating margin was 31.3% — versus 35.7% in Q4 2023 — and adjusted operating margin was 34.3%.

For full-year 2024, CSX posted net income of $3.5 billion, down 5% from 2023's net income of $3.7 billion.

Last year had its challenges, noted CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs.

"We managed through substantial impacts from major hurricanes and the Key Bridge outage early in the year and remained focused on delivering industry-leading customer satisfaction,” Hinrichs said. "We will remain disciplined in delivering safety, service, and operating efficiency performance as we invest in the strength and capabilities of our network this year, and we look forward to delivering on the profitable growth opportunities ahead of us.”