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The latest update is out from Norfolk Southern ( (NSC) ).
On December 19, 2025, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed a nearly 7,000-page application with the Surface Transportation Board seeking approval to combine their networks and create what they describe as America’s first transcontinental railroad, following a July 29, 2025 merger agreement that received overwhelming shareholder support. The proposed end-to-end combination would link the companies’ Western and Eastern U.S. systems into a 50,000‑route‑mile network spanning 43 states, converting roughly 10,000 existing interline lanes into faster single-line service, cutting an estimated 2,400 daily rail car and container handlings and 60,000 car‑miles, and shifting about 2 million truckloads annually from highways to rail. Management highlights potential public and commercial benefits including enhanced rail competition in major corridors, improved access to global markets via more than 100 ports and 10 international gateways, lower roadway congestion and emissions, and a new single-line rail option for historically underserved “Watershed” markets. For customers, the plan promises new and faster intermodal and manifest routes, expanded rail alternatives to trucking, better utilization of customer-owned rail equipment, a unified digital and commercial interface, streamlined pricing through a Committed Gateway Pricing framework, and preservation of all existing union jobs with the prospect of roughly 900 net new union positions by year three, supported by about $2.1 billion in incremental capital investment and anticipated capital synergies.
The most recent analyst rating on (NSC) stock is a Buy with a $322.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on Norfolk Southern stock, see the NSC Stock Forecast page.
Spark’s Take on NSC Stock
According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, NSC is a Outperform.
Norfolk Southern’s overall stock score reflects strong financial performance and positive technical indicators, tempered by valuation concerns and mixed earnings call sentiment. The merger with Union Pacific presents a significant opportunity but also introduces legal and competitive challenges.
To see Spark’s full report on NSC stock, click here.
More about Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern is a major U.S. freight railroad operator focused on serving Eastern manufacturing and population centers, while Union Pacific is one of the largest freight railroads in the Western United States; together they provide rail transportation services across complementary regional networks that handle intermodal, manifest and bulk freight and connect to more than 100 ports and multiple international gateways.
Average Trading Volume: 1,400,084
Technical Sentiment Signal: Buy
Current Market Cap: $72.05B
See more data about NSC stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.