Union Pacific delivered 3% more freight in 4Q as economy improved

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

Union Pacific's fourth-quarter profit chugged ahead as shipping volume improved for the first time since before the coronavirus pandemic slowed the economy to a crawl last year.

The Omaha-based railroad said Thursday that it earned $1.38 billion, or $2.05 per share, in the quarter. That was roughly in line with last year's $1.4 billion, or $2.02 per share, but this year's results were weighed down by a one-time $278 million charge. Without that charge, Union Pacific said it would have reported $1.6 billion net income, or $2.36 per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.25 per share.

The railroad posted revenue of $5.14 billion in the period, which met Wall Street forecasts.

Read more: https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/union-pacific-delivered-3-more-freight-in-4q-as-economy-improved/article_4ec36d12-5bf3-11eb-87f7-974b959cab43.html

[doc03]

1. Wow but unemployment up

[progree]

6. But Q4 unemployment was lower than Q3 unemployment

Initial claims for unemployment benefits: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/ICSA.txt

Unemployed http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS13000000

Unemployment rate: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

[doc03]

2. I think I read that Warren Buffet put a lot of

money in UP

[Gore1FL]

4. Bershire Hathaway pretty much owns BNSF.

They probably wouldn't let him invest in UP.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. My guess would be a slight bump in shipping volume after the freefall

This economy is similar to 2009 except that liquidity is not an issue for banks, and not every homeowning household is impacted by falling property values, foreclosure, or loss of equity in mortgage backed securities. However, job losses are widespread if mitigated by home-gigs, and the rent/eviction fallout, if any, has been deferred.

[Gore1FL]

5. Car-loadings are a leading economic indicator.

This is pretty nice news.

[Crowman2009]

7. Good! We need to freight hauled by trains anyway.

Get these non-union shady semis off the road!