Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Q2 2024 Earnings Conference Call July 25, 2024 4:30 PM ET

Company Participants

Luke Nichols - Senior Director, IR
Alan Shaw - President and CEO
Mark George - EVP and CFO
Ed Elkins - CMO
John Orr - COO

Conference Call Participants

Tom Wadewitz - UBS
Scott Group - Wolfe Research
Ken Hoexter - Bank of America
Jeff Kauffman - Vertical Research Partners
Chris Wetherbee - Wells Fargo
Brian Ossenbeck - JPMorgan
Jon Chappell - Evercore ISI
Brandon Oglenski - Barclays
Ravi Shanker - Morgan Stanley
Elliot Alper - TD Cowen
Daniel Imbro - Stephens Incorporated
Jordan Alliger - Goldman Sachs
Walter Spracklin - RBC Capital Markets
Stephanie Moore - Jefferies

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Norfolk Southern Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Thursday, July 25, 2024.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Luke Nichols, Senior Director of Investor Relations. Luke, please go ahead.

Luke Nichols

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Please note that during today's call, we will make certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the of the safe harbor provision Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

These statements relate to future events for future performance of Norfolk Southern Corporation, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and may differ materially from actual results. Please refer to our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC for full disclosure of those risks and uncertainties we view as most important.

Our presentation slides are available at norfolksouthern.com in the Investors section, along with our reconciliation of any non-GAAP measures used today to the comparable GAAP measures, including adjusted or non-GAAP operating ratio. Please note that all references to our prospective operating ratio during today's call are being provided on an adjusted basis as referenced in our earnings release.

Turning to Slide 3, it's now my pleasure to introduce Norfolk Southern's President and Chief Executive Officer, Alan Shaw.

Alan Shaw

Thank you, Luke, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. Here with me today are John Orr, our Chief Operating Chief Operating Officer; Ed Elkins, our Chief Marketing Officer; and Mark George, our Chief Financial Officer.

Earlier, we reported our second quarter financial results, including adjusted quarter adjusted operating income of $1.1 billion, net income of $694 million, and diluted earnings per share of $3.06. Notably, we delivered 480 basis points of sequential margin improvement on our adjusted operating ratio.