Freight Revenue Growth Driven by Fuel Surcharges, Volume, and Pricing
Freight revenues increased 12% in Q2 2026 to $6,518M from $5,843M, driven by higher fuel surcharge revenues (up to $1.0B from $569M), 2% carload growth, and core pricing gains, partially offset by unfavorable business mix from higher domestic intermodal (up 19%) which carries lower average revenue per car. Coal carloads declined 17% and international intermodal declined 14%.
Operating Ratio Deteriorated Despite Operating Income Growth
Operating income increased 9% to $2.8B, but the operating ratio of 59.7% deteriorated 0.7 points versus Q2 2025's 59.0%, primarily due to a 60% YoY increase in average locomotive diesel fuel price ($3.86/gallon vs $2.42/gallon) and acquisition-related expenses tied to the pending Norfolk Southern merger.
Pending Norfolk Southern Acquisition Impacting Financing and Expenses
The company paused share repurchases (buybacks fell to just $26M YTD from $2,679M prior year) as part of the pending Norfolk Southern acquisition announced in Q3 2025, and incurred acquisition-related expenses that contributed to higher purchased services and materials costs.