GURUFOCUS.COM » STOCK LIST » Industrials » Transportation » Norfolk Southern Corp (NYSE:NSC) » Definitions » Interest Coverage

Norfolk Southern (Norfolk Southern) Interest Coverage : 4.74 (As of Mar. 2024)


View and export this data going back to 1982. Start your Free Trial

What is Norfolk Southern Interest Coverage?

Interest Coverage is a ratio that determines how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt. It is calculated by dividing a company's Operating Income by its Interest Expense. Norfolk Southern's Operating Income for the three months ended in Mar. 2024 was $952 Mil. Norfolk Southern's Interest Expense for the three months ended in Mar. 2024 was $-201 Mil. Norfolk Southern's interest coverage for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2024 was 4.74. The higher the ratio, the stronger the company's financial strength is.

The historical rank and industry rank for Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage or its related term are showing as below:

NSC' s Interest Coverage Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 5.45   Med: 6.71   Max: 7.53
Current: 5.45


NSC's Interest Coverage is ranked better than
50.06% of 821 companies
in the Transportation industry
Industry Median: 5.43 vs NSC: 5.45

Note: If both Interest Expense and Interest Income are empty, while Net Interest Income is negative, then use Net Interest Income as Interest Expense.


Norfolk Southern Interest Coverage Historical Data

The historical data trend for Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

Note: For Interest Coverage, "No debt" indicates no long-term debt. An indication of "No Debt" does not necessarily mean that the company has no long-term debt obligations; it could be due to missing data in the quarterly or annual report. Use caution when interpreting this information.

* Premium members only.

Norfolk Southern Interest Coverage Chart

Norfolk Southern Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Interest Coverage
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 7.03 5.85 7.30 7.23 5.92

Norfolk Southern Quarterly Data
Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24
Interest Coverage Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 6.58 6.19 5.36 5.61 4.74

Competitive Comparison of Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage

For the Railroads subindustry, Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage, along with its competitors' market caps and Interest Coverage data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage Distribution in the Transportation Industry

For the Transportation industry and Industrials sector, Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage falls into.



Norfolk Southern Interest Coverage Calculation

Interest Coverage is a ratio that determines how easily a company can pay interest expenses on outstanding debt. It is calculated by dividing a company's Operating Income (EBIT) by its Interest Expense:

If Interest Expense is negative and Operating Income is positive, then

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income /Interest Expense

Else if Interest Expense is negative and Operating Income is negative, then

The company did not have earnings to cover the interest expense.

Else if Interest Expense is 0 and Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation is 0, then

The company had no debt (1).


Note: If both Interest Expense and Interest Income are empty, while Net Interest Income is negative, then use Net Interest Income as Interest Expense.

Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023 is calculated as

Here, for the fiscal year that ended in Dec. 2023, Norfolk Southern's Interest Expense was $-722 Mil. Its Operating Income was $4,274 Mil. And its Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $17,462 Mil.

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income (A: Dec. 2023 )/Interest Expense (A: Dec. 2023 )
=-1*4274/-722
=5.92

Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage for the quarter that ended in Mar. 2024 is calculated as

Here, for the three months ended in Mar. 2024, Norfolk Southern's Interest Expense was $-201 Mil. Its Operating Income was $952 Mil. And its Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $17,179 Mil.

Interest Coverage=-1* Operating Income (Q: Mar. 2024 )/Interest Expense (Q: Mar. 2024 )
=-1*952/-201
=4.74

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

The higher the ratio, the stronger the company's Financial Strength is.


Norfolk Southern  (NYSE:NSC) Interest Coverage Explanation

Ben Graham requires that a company has a minimum interest coverage of 5 with the companies he invested. If the interest coverage is less than 2, the company is burdened by debt. Any business slow or recession may drag the company into a situation where it cannot pay the interest on its debt.

Interest Coverage is an important factor when GuruFocus ranks a company's overage Financial Strength .


Norfolk Southern Interest Coverage Related Terms

Thank you for viewing the detailed overview of Norfolk Southern's Interest Coverage provided by GuruFocus.com. Please click on the following links to see related term pages.


Norfolk Southern (Norfolk Southern) Business Description

Address
650 West Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA, USA, 30308
Class-I railroad Norfolk Southern operates in the Eastern United States. On more than 20,000 miles of track, the firm hauls shipments of coal, intermodal traffic, and a diverse mix of automobile, agriculture, metal, chemical, and forest products.
Executives
Phillip S Davidson director 825 TOWN & COUNTRY LANE, SUITE 1500, HOUSTON TX 77024
Francesca A. Debiase director MCDONALD'S CORPORATION, 110 NORTH CARPENTER STREET, CHICAGO IL 60607
Alan H. Shaw officer: EVP & Chief Marketing Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Paul B Duncan officer: EVP & Chief Operating Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
James A Squires officer: Sr. V.P. - Law 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Steven F Leer director USG CORPORATION, 125 SOUTH FRANKLIN STREET, CHICAGO IL 60606
Nabanita C Nag officer: SVP and Chief Legal Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Claiborne L Moore officer: Vice President and Controller 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Lorri J Kleine officer: SVP & Chief Legal Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Claude E Elkins officer: EVP & Chief Marketing Officer 650 W. PEACHTREE ST, NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Allison Clyde H Jr officer: Vice President and Controller 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Ann A Adams officer: EVP-Chief Transform. Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Cynthia M Sanborn officer: EVP & Chief Operating Officer 650 W PEACHTREE ST NW, ATLANTA GA 30308
Michael Joseph Wheeler officer: Sr. Vice President Operations THREE COMMERCIAL PLACE, 13TH FLOOR, NORFOLK VA 23510
Christopher T Jones director 2980 FAIRVIEW PARK DRIVE, FALLS CHURCH VA 22042