Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) Q4 2022 Earnings Conference Call January 24, 2023 8:45 AM ET

Company Participants

Lance Fritz - Chairman, President and CEO

Kenny Rocker - Executive Vice President, Marketing and Sales

Eric Gehringer - Executive Vice President, Operations

Jennifer Hamann - Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Jon Chappell - Evercore ISI

Amit Mehrotra - Deutsche Bank

Brandon Oglenski - Barclays

Ari Rosa - Credit Suisse

Tom Wadewitz - UBS

Allison Poliniak - Wells Fargo

Scott Group - Wolfe Research

Fadi Chamoun - BMO Capital Markets

Justin Long - Stephens

Walter Spracklin - RBC Capital Markets

Bascome Majors - Susquehanna

Jordan Alliger - Goldman Sachs

Cherilyn Radbourne - TD Securities

Ravi Shanker - Morgan Stanley

Chris Wetherbee - Citi

Ken Hoexter - Bank of America

Brian Ossenbeck - JPMorgan

Jeff Kaufman - Vertical Research

David Vernon - Bernstein

Jason Seidl - Cowen and Company

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to the Union Pacific Fourth Quarter 2022 Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A brief question-and-answer session will follow the formal presentation. [Operator Instructions]

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and the slides for today’s presentation are available on Union Pacific’s website. It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Mr. Lance Fritz, Chairman, President and CEO for Union Pacific.

Mr. Fritz, you may now begin.

Lance Fritz

Thank you, Rob, and good morning. And welcome to Union Pacific's fourth quarter earnings conference call. With me today in Omaha are Kenny Rocker, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales; Eric Gehringer, Executive Vice President of Operations; and Jennifer Hamann, our Chief Financial Officer.

The fourth quarter and 2022 overall were challenging for Union Pacific and our employees. The lengthy labor negotiations tested our work force, while customers felt the impact of our service issues.

Two things are critically important as we turn the page to 2023. First, is the trend line of improving freight car velocity since late summer, although acknowledging there were bumps along the way. And second, is how we move forward, establishing consistent service for our customers day-in and day-out and demonstrating to all stakeholders our commitment to excellence.

Now turning to our fourth quarter results. This morning Union Pacific is reporting 2022 fourth quarter net income of $1.6 billion or $2.67 per share. This compares to fourth quarter 2021 results of $1.7 billion or $2.66 per share.