CSX
CSX Corporation
CSX has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
VRT
Vertiv Holdings Co
VRT has the edge over CSX overall, supported by stronger valuation and stronger modeled upside.
CSX Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
CSX's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, and its balance sheet is stable.
VRT Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Strong |
VRT's revenue, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet are all currently strong.
CSX PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 16x | $31.56 | -40% |
| Fair | 19x | $36.91 | -30% |
| Forward | 23x | $52.40 | — |
| Expensive | 25x | $49.12 | -6.3% |
| Current | 27x | $52.40 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CSX's PE is in its expensive range at 27x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 23x next year's earnings.
VRT PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 23x | $210 | — |
| Current | 39x | $210 | — |
| Cheap | 58x | $308 | +47% |
| Fair | 72x | $383 | +83% |
| Expensive | 88x | $472 | +125% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
VRT has the edge over CSX in the historical PE scenario, which offers more potential upside but is not a forecast.
CSX Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for CSX, with profitability improving.
VRT Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Moderate | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect strong earnings and revenue growth for VRT, with profitability improving.
CSX Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.29 | +19% |
| Q3 2026 | $1.93 | +25% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.73 | +6.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.63 | -3% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.54 | -14% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.54 | -18% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.63 | -11% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.68 | -8.2% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.80 | -2.7% |
CSX earned $1.93 per share over the past year, up 25% from the year before.
VRT Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $9.14 | +71% |
| Q3 2026 | $5.35 | +102% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.42 | +111% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.98 | +131% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.41 | +166% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.65 | +75% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.09 | +62% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.72 | +64% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.28 | +7.6% |
VRT has the edge over CSX on earnings, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
CSX Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4B | +12% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.9B | +10% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.5B | +1.7% |
| Q4 2025 | $3.5B | -0.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.6B | -0.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.6B | -3.4% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.4B | -7% |
| Q4 2024 | $3.5B | -3.8% |
CSX's revenue has picked up after three years of holding roughly level: $4B last quarter, up 12% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 39% | +8.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 38% | +2.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | 36% | +5.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | +0.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 30% | -7.1 points |
| Q2 2025 | 36% | -3.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 30% | -6.4 points |
| Q4 2024 | 31% | -4.6 points |
CSX has the edge over VRT on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
VRT Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.3B | +61% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.3B | +24% |
| Q1 2026 | $2.6B | +30% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.9B | +23% |
| Q3 2025 | $2.7B | +29% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.6B | +35% |
| Q1 2025 | $2B | +24% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.3B | +26% |
VRT has the edge over CSX on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 23% | +3.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | 19% | +2.7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 17% | +2.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 20% | +0.7 points |
| Q3 2025 | 19% | +1.4 points |
| Q2 2025 | 17% | -0.4 points |
| Q1 2025 | 14% | +1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | 19% | +4.2 points |
VRT's operating margin was 23% last quarter, up 3.5 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2020.
CSX Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $1B | +69% |
| Q2 2026 | $751M | +$892M |
| Q1 2026 | $729M | +36% |
| Q4 2025 | $709M | +29% |
| Q3 2025 | $607M | -43% |
| Q2 2025 | -$141M | -125% |
| Q1 2025 | $536M | -4.3% |
| Q4 2024 | $550M | -32% |
CSX generated $3.2B in free cash flow over the past year, up 107% from the year before.
VRT Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $654.9M | +41% |
| Q2 2026 | $926.5M | +233% |
| Q1 2026 | $654.2M | +145% |
| Q4 2025 | $885.6M | +143% |
| Q3 2025 | $463.5M | +36% |
| Q2 2025 | $277.9M | -19% |
| Q1 2025 | $266.8M | +162% |
| Q4 2024 | $364.5M | +18% |
VRT has the edge over CSX on cash flow, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
CSX Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -0.3% | -6M shares |
| 1 year | -0.7% | -14M shares |
| 3 years | -7.3% | -146M shares |
| 5 years | -17% | -389M shares |
| Available history | -23% | -541M shares |
CSX has the edge over VRT on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $543M |
| Q2 2026 | $296M |
| Q1 2026 | $222M |
| Q4 2025 | $112M |
| Q3 2025 | $112M |
| Q2 2025 | $421M |
| Q1 2025 | $751M |
| Q4 2024 | $1B |
CSX spent $1.2B buying back its own shares over the past year, down 49% from the year before.
VRT Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -64.9K shares |
| 1 year | +0.4% | +1.8M shares |
| 3 years | +1.1% | +4.4M shares |
| 5 years | +10% | +36M shares |
| Available history | +63% | +152M shares |
VRT has 393M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
| Q2 2024 | — |
| Q1 2024 | $599.9M |
CSX Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 3.0x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.5x | Moderate |
CSX's net debt is about 2.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 3.0 years a year ago.
VRT Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -0.2x | Net Cash |
| Q2 2026 | 0.1x | Very low |
| Q1 2026 | 0.3x | Very low |
| Q4 2025 | 0.6x | Very low |
| Q3 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q2 2025 | 0.7x | Very low |
| Q1 2025 | 0.8x | Very low |
| Q4 2024 | 1.0x | Healthy |
VRT has the edge over CSX on leverage, with a lower net debt burden relative to earnings.
CSX Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 62.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 73.1 | Neutral |
CSX's weekly RSI is 62 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 73 (neutral).
VRT Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 43.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 26.4 | Neutral |
VRT's weekly RSI is 43 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 26 (neutral).
CSX PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | CSX | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 27x | 24x | 13% above |
| PE % | 89 | 58 | 31 pts above |
CSX has the edge over VRT on valuation relative to its sector.
VRT PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | VRT | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 39x | 24x | 63% above |
| PE % | 3 | 58 | 55 pts below |
VRT is trading at 39x earnings, a 63% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
CSX Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $49.3 | 6.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $49.8 | 5.2% above |
| 50 week MA | $44.7 | 17% above |
| 100 week MA | $38.7 | 36% above |
| 200 week MA | $35.9 | 46% above |
CSX has the edge over VRT on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
VRT Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $221.8 | 5.5% below |
| 20 week MA | $254.4 | 18% below |
| 50 week MA | $253.9 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $189.1 | 11% above |
| 200 week MA | $123.5 | 70% above |
VRT has pulled back, but its long-term trend is still up: it's below its 8-, 20- and 50-week averages, but 70% above its 200-week average.
CSX Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $24.3 | $30.0 | +24% |
| 2021 | $30.0 | $36.8 | +23% |
| 2022 | $36.8 | $31.3 | -15% |
| 2023 | $31.3 | $34.7 | +11% |
| 2024 | $34.7 | $32.5 | -6.4% |
| 2025 | $32.5 | $36.6 | +13% |
| 2026 YTD | $36.6 | $52.4 | +43% |
CSX has the edge over VRT on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
VRT Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10.9 | $18.9 | +73% |
| 2021 | $18.9 | $24.9 | +31% |
| 2022 | $24.9 | $12.8 | -48% |
| 2023 | $12.8 | $48.0 | +275% |
| 2024 | $48.0 | $115.1 | +140% |
| 2025 | $115.1 | $167.6 | +46% |
| 2026 YTD | $167.6 | $209.6 | +25% |
VRT's yearly returns have swung widely, from +275% in 2023 to −48% in 2022. It's up 25% so far in 2026.