At Cowen and Company, we are adjusting our rail models in advance of second-quarter earnings reports due later this month from the Class I railroads. The models reflect carloads in the quarter, mix, fuel, FX (foreign exchange) and cost implications as the supply chain remains tight.
Rail shippers in fourth-quarter 2020 expected price increases of 3.2% (up 10bps sequentially), and their sub-group of railcar buyers raised order expectations modestly, according to two surveys conducted by Cowen and Company analysts Jason H. Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Elliot Alper.
Intermodal’s growth path may help railroads sustain COVID-19 recovery. “Participants from Class I railroads were positive on current trends and cautiously optimistic that these trends can continue for the remainder of 2020 and beyond,” Cowen and Co. analysts Jason Seidl (Managing Director and Railway Age Wall Street Contributing Editor), Matt Elkott and Adam Kramer reported, following their attendance and participation at the North East Association of Rail Shippers (NEARS) Fall 2020 Virtual Conference. “Continued tightness in trucking is benefiting intermodal.”
Union Pacific was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Sept. 15, 1870, one year and four months after the Golden Spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869, to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. To mark the 150th anniversary of its NYSE listing as UNP, UP officials virtually rang the Closing Bell at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Sept. 15, 2020.
