Union Pacific Corporation (NYSE:UNP) Q3 2024 Results Conference Call October 24, 2024 8:45 AM ET
Company Participants
Jim Vena - CEO
Jennifer Hamann - EVP and CFO
Kenny Rocker - EVP, Marketing and Sales
Eric Gehringer - EVP, Operations
Conference Call Participants
Ken Hoexter - Bank of America
Chris Wetherbee - Wells Fargo
Walter Spracklin - RBC Capital Markets
David Vernon - Bernstein
Mike Triano - UBS
Daniel Imbro - Stephens
Jon Chappell - Evercore ISI
Brian Ossenbeck - JPMorgan
Ben Nolan - Stifel
Eric Morgan - Barclays
Stephanie Moore - Jefferies
Scott Group - Wolfe Research
Elliot Alper - TD Cowen
Ariel Rosa - Citigroup
Operator
Greetings, and welcome to Union Pacific's Third Quarter Earnings Call. [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. Jim Vena, Chief Executive Officer for Union Pacific. Thank you, Mr. Vena. You may now begin.
Jim Vena
Good morning, Rob, beautiful morning in Omaha, nice fall day. So good morning, and thank you for joining us today to discuss Union Pacific's third quarter results. I'm joined in Omaha, by our Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Hamann, our Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales; Kenny Rocker, and our Executive Vice President of Operations, Eric Gehringer.
As you'll hear from the team, our third quarter results do an excellent job of capturing the progress we've made under our strategy to lead the industry in safety, service and operational excellence. And you're seeing how that leads to financial success. I'm very pleased with where we sit today compared to where we started a little over a year ago.
Now let's discuss third quarter results, starting on Slide number 3. This morning, Union Pacific reported 2024 third quarter net income of $1.7 billion, a 9% improvement and earnings per share of $2.75, a 10% improvement. Third quarter operating revenue gained 3% of strong volumes and core pricing gains were impacted by our business mix and less fuel surcharge revenue.
Excluding fuel, freight revenue increased 5% versus 2023. Reported expenses year-over-year improved 2%, while fuel prices were a driver. The team did an excellent job generating productivity to control costs as we successfully handled a 6% increase in volume.
Our third quarter operating ratio of 60.3% improved 310 basis points versus last year, further demonstrating our ability to be operationally excellent while maintaining a resource buffer to handle unforeseen events. Look, it was another really good quarter. I'm pleased with how we flex to handle the 33% increase in international intermodal volume during the quarter, while improving service metrics across our network.