Boston, MA 04/14/2014 (wallstreetpr) – CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) is a railroad organization bearing market value of $28 billion. The company reports its fiscal 2014 first quarter results Tuesday. The reporting will follow a lackluster fourth quarter that resulted in the shares of the company tumbling most in about two years.
The company reported fiscal 2014 fourth quarter net income of $426 million or $0.42 per share, missing analyst consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.43 per share. Before the quarter, the last time the company witnessed its earnings falling short of estimate was in the fourth quarter of 2011. Earnings took a beating then due to the high cost of fuel that sapped profits.
Can the upcoming first quarter earnings be different?
CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) suffered in the fourth quarter due to weak coal shipment. That was a lesson enough for the executives to look into enhancing revenue from construction, merchandize, industrial and housing sectors. These industries have been very active in the first three months of the year. If that is so, then the company should be able to report better results hoping that it handled better volumes and set strong margins and curbed expenses.
Until the results are out, nobody knows for sure what the railroad operator will report. But you would expect that the fact that coal is witnessing shipment decline, the management turned the focus on the markets with higher volumes and margins to offset the slowdown in coal.
However, if analyst sentiments are anything to go by, many analysts have increasingly become more optimistic in the stock, suggesting that the upcoming results might be better than what was witnessed in the fourth quarter.
Regardless of the results
Whichever way the results come, the broader picture is that CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) comes across as an attractive investment opportunity. First and foremost, the management predicts 2014 to be a rewarding year for the business. Moreover, the company has a habit of returning good amount of money to shareholders through stock repurchase. As if that is not enough, the stock also looks discounted and thus presents opportunity to jump in for the anticipated goodies at a reduced cost.
