Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) Key Metrics
NSC valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $73.43B
- Enterprise value
- $86.30B
- P/E (TTM)
- 27.9 10-yr median 19.7
- Forward P/E
- 22.3
- PEG ratio
- 3.72
- Price / sales
- 5.9 10-yr median 4.5
- Price / book
- 4.4 10-yr median 3.9
- EV / EBITDA
- 15.5 10-yr median 12.4
- Dividend yield
- 1.65% $5.40 a year
- Beta
- 1.28
NSC key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsNSC valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
NSC returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
NSC per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
NSC financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
NSC efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
NSC valuation history
NSC returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
NSC debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
NSC cash returned to shareholders
NSC price vs earnings per share
NSC key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $64.90B | $53.14B | $53.75B | $58.06B | $73.86B | $60.97B | $51.56B | $41.90B | $42.06B | $31.99B |
| Enterprise value | $80.46B | $68.97B | $69.76B | $73.19B | $87.28B | $72.97B | $63.71B | $52.69B | $51.21B | $41.24B |
| P/E ratio | 22.6 | 20.3 | 29.4 | 17.8 | 24.6 | 30.3 | 18.9 | 15.7 | 7.8 | 19.2 |
| Price / sales | 5.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 3.2 |
| Price / book | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 4.1 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Price / free cash flow | 30.1 | 31.8 | 64.8 | 25.5 | 26.5 | 28.5 | 27.5 | 23.6 | 27.5 | 27.9 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 14.9 | 13.1 | 16.9 | 13.8 | 17.4 | 16.8 | 13.2 | 11.2 | 12.9 | 10.5 |
| EV / sales | 6.6 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 5.6 | 4.6 | 4.9 | 4.2 |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.8 | 12.6 | 24.5 | 12.1 | 15.3 | 16.9 | 12.2 | 10.3 | 10.8 | 9.8 |
| EV / free cash flow | 37.3 | 41.3 | 84.0 | 32.2 | 31.3 | 34.1 | 34.0 | 29.7 | 33.5 | 36.0 |
| Earnings yield | 4.4% | 4.9% | 3.4% | 5.6% | 4.1% | 3.3% | 5.3% | 6.4% | 12.8% | 5.2% |
| Free cash flow yield | 3.3% | 3.1% | 1.5% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.5% | 3.6% | 4.2% | 3.6% | 3.6% |
| Dividend yield | 1.9% | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 1.4% | 1.6% | 1.8% | 2.0% | 1.7% | 2.2% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 2.7% | 2.3% | 3.4% | 7.4% | 6.0% | 3.9% | 5.9% | 8.7% | 4.1% | 4.7% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $288.72 | $234.70 | $236.38 | $246.42 | $297.71 | $237.61 | $194.13 | $149.54 | $144.90 | $108.07 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $54.18 | $53.55 | $53.46 | $54.10 | $44.91 | $38.15 | $42.53 | $40.89 | $36.35 | $33.41 |
| Earnings per share | $12.78 | $11.58 | $8.03 | $13.88 | $12.11 | $7.84 | $10.25 | $9.51 | $18.62 | $5.64 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $19.40 | $17.90 | $13.98 | $17.92 | $17.15 | $14.17 | $14.65 | $13.30 | $11.21 | $10.25 |
| Free cash flow per share | $9.60 | $7.38 | $3.65 | $9.65 | $11.23 | $8.35 | $7.05 | $6.33 | $5.27 | $3.88 |
| Cash per share | $6.81 | $7.25 | $6.90 | $1.94 | $3.38 | $4.35 | $2.18 | $1.28 | $2.38 | $3.23 |
| Book value per share | $69.16 | $63.19 | $56.20 | $54.04 | $54.98 | $57.64 | $57.17 | $54.83 | $56.35 | $41.92 |
| Tangible book value per share | $69.16 | $63.19 | $56.20 | $54.04 | $54.98 | $59.20 | $58.63 | $56.18 | $57.61 | $43.03 |
| Dividends per share | $5.40 | $5.39 | $5.39 | $4.95 | $4.14 | $3.74 | $3.57 | $3.01 | $2.42 | $2.35 |
| Capex per share | $9.80 | $10.52 | $10.33 | $8.27 | $5.93 | $5.82 | $7.60 | $6.96 | $5.94 | $6.38 |
| Debt per share | $76.01 | $77.20 | $77.27 | $66.18 | $57.45 | $51.11 | $47.94 | $39.78 | $33.88 | $34.50 |
| Shares outstanding | 224.8M | 226.4M | 227.4M | 235.6M | 248.1M | 256.6M | 265.6M | 280.2M | 290.3M | 296.0M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −0.7% | −0.4% | −3.5% | −5.0% | −3.3% | −3.4% | −5.2% | −3.5% | −1.9% | −2.8% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 19.2% | 19.4% | 14.3% | 24.8% | 21.1% | 13.4% | 17.8% | 16.8% | 37.6% | 13.6% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 10.3% | 10.1% | 7.9% | 13.6% | 12.6% | 10.0% | 11.4% | 11.8% | 14.9% | 9.3% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 6.5% | 6.1% | 4.5% | 8.5% | 7.9% | 5.3% | 7.3% | 7.4% | 15.3% | 4.8% |
| Return on tangible assets | 6.4% | 6.0% | 4.4% | 8.4% | 7.8% | 5.2% | 7.1% | 7.3% | 15.0% | 4.7% |
| Free cash flow margin | 17.7% | 13.8% | 6.8% | 17.8% | 25.0% | 21.9% | 16.6% | 15.5% | 14.5% | 11.6% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.52 | 1.55 | 1.74 | 1.29 | 1.42 | 1.81 | 1.43 | 1.40 | 0.60 | 1.82 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $17.09B | $17.48B | $17.57B | $15.59B | $14.25B | $13.11B | $12.73B | $11.14B | $9.84B | $10.21B |
| Cash & short-term investments | $1.53B | $1.64B | $1.57B | $456.0M | $839.0M | $1.11B | $580.0M | $358.0M | $690.0M | $956.0M |
| Net debt | $15.56B | $15.84B | $16.00B | $15.14B | $13.41B | $12.00B | $12.15B | $10.79B | $9.15B | $9.26B |
| Debt / equity | 1.10 | 1.22 | 1.37 | 1.22 | 1.04 | 0.89 | 0.84 | 0.73 | 0.60 | 0.82 |
| Debt / assets | 0.38 | 0.40 | 0.42 | 0.40 | 0.37 | 0.35 | 0.34 | 0.31 | 0.28 | 0.29 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.66 | 2.89 | 5.61 | 2.50 | 2.35 | 2.78 | 2.32 | 2.10 | 1.93 | 2.20 |
| Current ratio | 0.85 | 0.90 | 1.24 | 0.76 | 0.86 | 1.07 | 0.90 | 0.72 | 0.84 | 0.98 |
| Quick ratio | 0.78 | 0.82 | 1.14 | 0.66 | 0.77 | 0.97 | 0.80 | 0.64 | 0.76 | 0.87 |
| Interest coverage | 5.1 | 4.7 | 3.9 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 7.1 | 6.4 | 5.4 |
| Working capital | −$577.0M | −$357.0M | $639.0M | −$642.0M | −$354.0M | $158.0M | −$219.0M | −$729.0M | −$396.0M | −$48.0M |
| Invested capital | $31.10B | $30.14B | $28.78B | $27.87B | $27.05B | $26.79B | $27.34B | $26.15B | $25.50B | $21.66B |
| Tangible asset value | $15.55B | $14.31B | $12.78B | $12.73B | $13.64B | $15.19B | $15.57B | $15.74B | $16.73B | $12.74B |
| Net current asset value | −$26.49B | −$26.19B | −$25.60B | −$24.14B | −$22.68B | −$20.85B | −$20.66B | −$19.02B | −$17.20B | −$20.19B |
| Graham number | $141.02 | $128.32 | $100.80 | $129.91 | $122.41 | $100.87 | $114.82 | $108.34 | $153.63 | $72.91 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$121.36 | −$118.35 | −$115.70 | −$104.87 | −$93.40 | −$83.05 | −$80.37 | −$70.16 | −$61.44 | −$69.90 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $1.22B | $1.22B | $1.23B | $1.17B | $1.03B | $960.0M | $949.0M | $844.0M | $703.0M | $695.0M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $534.0M | $0 | $619.0M | $3.11B | $3.39B | $1.44B | $2.10B | $2.78B | $1.01B | $803.0M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 42.3% | 46.6% | 67.0% | 35.7% | 34.2% | 47.7% | 34.9% | 31.7% | 13.0% | 41.7% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 81.1% | 73.1% | 222.2% | 188.3% | 158.6% | 111.9% | 162.7% | 204.2% | 112.1% | 130.6% |
| Capex / revenue | 18.1% | 19.6% | 19.3% | 15.3% | 13.2% | 15.3% | 17.9% | 17.0% | 16.3% | 19.1% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 50.5% | 58.8% | 73.9% | 46.1% | 34.5% | 41.1% | 51.9% | 52.4% | 53.0% | 62.2% |
| Capex / depreciation | 1.58 | 1.76 | 1.81 | 1.60 | 1.24 | 1.29 | 1.77 | 1.77 | 1.63 | 1.83 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | — | — | 0.3% | 0.4% | −0.8% | 4.5% | −0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| SG&A / revenue | 6.2% | 1.0% | 0.5% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 0.9% | 0.6% | 0.5% | 1.1% | 0.2% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 30.8 | 33.4 | 34.5 | 30.4 | 29.9 | 33.0 | 31.2 | 31.3 | 32.9 | 34.9 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 14.3 | 11.8 | 15.6 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 13.3 | 11.1 | 10.4 | 12.4 | 14.1 |
| Days payables outstanding | 74.1 | 43.3 | 51.5 | 35.6 | 37.8 | 36.0 | 37.9 | 40.2 | 38.2 | 33.5 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | -29.0 | 1.9 | -1.4 | 5.6 | 3.9 | 10.2 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 7.1 | 15.5 |
| Receivables turnover | 11.84 | 10.94 | 10.59 | 12.00 | 12.22 | 11.07 | 11.71 | 11.67 | 11.11 | 10.46 |
| Payables turnover | 4.92 | 8.43 | 7.09 | 10.26 | 9.67 | 10.13 | 9.63 | 9.09 | 9.55 | 10.89 |
| Inventory turnover | 25.59 | 30.90 | 23.44 | 34.02 | 30.87 | 27.49 | 32.83 | 34.96 | 29.35 | 25.83 |
| Asset turnover | 0.27 | 0.28 | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.29 | 0.26 | 0.30 | 0.32 | 0.30 | 0.29 |
| Average receivables | $1.03B | $1.11B | $1.15B | $1.06B | $912.0M | $884.0M | $964.5M | $982.0M | $950.0M | $945.5M |
| Average payables | $1.42B | $991.0M | $854.5M | $781.0M | $701.0M | $631.0M | $769.0M | $825.0M | $736.0M | $626.0M |
| Average inventory | $274.0M | $270.5M | $258.5M | $235.5M | $219.5M | $232.5M | $225.5M | $214.5M | $239.5M | $264.0M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | −1.1% | −1.0% | −1.0% | −1.0% | −0.9% |
Computed from NSC's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 9, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
NSC valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Norfolk Southern traded at 22.6 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 19.7. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 27.9 and the forward P/E is 22.3. Norfolk Southern earned a return on equity of 19.2% and a return on invested capital of 10.3% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $17.1 billion of debt and $1.5 billion in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $15.6 billion. It returned $1.7 billion to shareholders: $1.2 billion in dividends and $534.0 million in share buybacks, 81% of free cash flow. The share count fell 24.1% from 296.0M to 224.8M over 9 years.
See the NSC income statement, the NSC chart for price history, or the NSC stock overview for the latest quote and news.
NSC key metrics FAQ
What is Norfolk Southern's P/E ratio?
Norfolk Southern's trailing P/E ratio is 27.9 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 22.3. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 22.6, compared with a 10-year median of 19.7.
What is Norfolk Southern's EV/EBITDA?
Norfolk Southern's enterprise value was 13.8 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $80.5 billion, EBITDA $5.8 billion); the current EV/EBITDA is 15.5.
What is Norfolk Southern's return on equity?
Norfolk Southern's return on equity (ROE) was 19.2% in fiscal 2025: net income of $2.9 billion on average shareholders' equity of $14.9 billion.
What is Norfolk Southern's ROIC?
Norfolk Southern's return on invested capital was 10.3% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Norfolk Southern have?
Norfolk Southern had total debt of $17.1 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10 and $15.6 billion of net debt (2.66 times EBITDA).
What is Norfolk Southern's dividend yield?
Norfolk Southern's forward dividend yield is 1.65%. Norfolk Southern paid $1.2 billion in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($5.40 per share), a payout ratio of 42.3%.
Does Norfolk Southern buy back its shares?
Yes. Norfolk Southern spent $534.0 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −0.7% over the year, to 224.8M..
What is Norfolk Southern's free cash flow yield?
Norfolk Southern generated $2.2 billion of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 3.3% on its market value at year-end ($64.9 billion).
What is Norfolk Southern's current ratio?
Norfolk Southern's current ratio was 0.85 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 0.85 times current liabilities.