CSX railroad profit slips 2% as shipping demand remained weak and severance costs hurt results

CSX said Thursday that its profit slipped 2% in the fourth quarter as the railroad dealt with weak demand and severance costs from layoffs that new CEO Steve Angel carried out last fall.

The Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad said it earned $720 million, or 39 cents per share, in the quarter. That’s down from $733 million, or 38 cents per share.

But the results were weighed down by about $50 million in one-time costs that drug down profits by 2 cents per share. Without that, the numbers would have been inline with the 41 cents per share that the analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had predicted.

“Our quarterly results reflect the subdued industrial demand environment and actions taken to adjust our cost structure,” CEO Steve Angel said. CSX said its revenue slipped 1% to $3.51 billion in the quarter.

Heading into 2026, the railroad is focused on improving productivity while limiting costs. But Angel said he expects only modest economic growth this year amid all the uncertainty. He predicted that CSX will see revenue grow only by low single digits, and the railroad pulled its targets for 2027 that it had established a couple of years ago.

Last fall CSX wrapped up the two major construction projects that disrupted its network and limited the railroad’s flexibility. CSX completed a major tunnel renovation in Baltimore and repairs from Hurricane Helene. That helped raise its trains’ average speed to 19.6 mph in the fourth quarter while delivering 87% of its shipments on time.

The tunnel project will allow CSX to begin hauling metal shipping containers filled with assorted goods stacked two high across its network this year. But competitor Norfolk Southern announced a similar double-stacked service in the east earlier this week.

CSX is one of the largest railroads in North America, operating in the eastern United States.