NSC
Norfolk Southern Corporation
NSC has lower modeled downside risk, despite its lower overall score.
RKLB
Rocket Lab USA, Inc.
RKLB has a slight edge over NSC overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger modeled upside.
NSC Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Stable |
NSC's revenue and profitability are currently healthy, and its cash flow and balance sheet are stable.
RKLB Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Under pressure | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
RKLB's revenue is currently strong, but its profitability and cash flow are under pressure. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
NSC PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 18x | $216 | -35% |
| Fair | 22x | $268 | -20% |
| Forward | 23x | $333 | — |
| Current | 28x | $333 | — |
| Expensive | 30x | $362 | +8.7% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
NSC's PE is in its expensive range at 28x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 23x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
RKLB PE Valuation
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NSC Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for NSC, with profitability improving.
RKLB Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect RKLB's losses to shrink, with revenue growing. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
NSC Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $14.19 | +19% |
| Q3 2026 | $11.93 | -9.1% |
| Q2 2026 | $11.72 | -21% |
| Q1 2026 | $11.87 | -19% |
| Q4 2025 | $12.75 | +10% |
| Q3 2025 | $13.12 | +23% |
| Q2 2025 | $14.81 | +87% |
| Q1 2025 | $14.65 | +136% |
| Q4 2024 | $11.57 | +44% |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
RKLB Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$0.36 | +$0.03 |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.27 | +$0.19 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.32 | +$0.09 |
| Q4 2025 | -$0.37 | +$0.01 |
| Q3 2025 | -$0.39 | -$0.02 |
| Q2 2025 | -$0.46 | -$0.11 |
| Q1 2025 | -$0.41 | -$0.04 |
| Q4 2024 | -$0.38 | $0.00 |
RKLB is still losing money, but less than at its worst: $0.36 per share over the past year, against $0.46 at its worst in mid-2025.
NSC Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $3.5B | +14% |
| Q2 2026 | $3.5B | +11% |
| Q1 2026 | $3B | +0.2% |
| Q4 2025 | $3B | -1.7% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.1B | +1.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $3.1B | +2.2% |
| Q1 2025 | $3B | -0.4% |
| Q4 2024 | $3B | -1.6% |
NSC's revenue has picked up after three years of holding roughly level: $3.5B last quarter, up 14% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 33% | -2.8 points |
| Q2 2026 | 32% | -5.3 points |
| Q1 2026 | 29% | -9 points |
| Q4 2025 | 32% | -5.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 35% | -17 points |
| Q2 2025 | 38% | +0.6 points |
| Q1 2025 | 38% | +31 points |
| Q4 2024 | 37% | +11 points |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
RKLB Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $267.8M | +73% |
| Q2 2026 | $234.1M | +62% |
| Q1 2026 | $200.3M | +63% |
| Q4 2025 | $179.7M | +36% |
| Q3 2025 | $155.1M | +48% |
| Q2 2025 | $144.5M | +36% |
| Q1 2025 | $122.6M | +32% |
| Q4 2024 | $132.4M | +121% |
RKLB has the edge over NSC on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -30% | +8.5 points |
| Q2 2026 | -25% | +17 points |
| Q1 2026 | -28% | +20 points |
| Q4 2025 | -28% | +11 points |
| Q3 2025 | -38% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -41% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2025 | -48% | -1.9 points |
| Q4 2024 | -39% | +41 points |
RKLB's operating margin was −30% last quarter, up 8.5 points from the same quarter a year ago.
NSC Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $736M | +2.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $615M | +2.2% |
| Q1 2026 | -$38M | -108% |
| Q4 2025 | $334M | +21% |
| Q3 2025 | $720M | +12% |
| Q2 2025 | $602M | +29% |
| Q1 2025 | $501M | +78% |
| Q4 2024 | $276M | +$456M |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
RKLB Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$23.9M | +$45.5M |
| Q2 2026 | -$110.1M | -$54.8M |
| Q1 2026 | -$77.4M | +$5.5M |
| Q4 2025 | -$114.2M | -$90.2M |
| Q3 2025 | -$69.4M | -$27.5M |
| Q2 2025 | -$55.3M | -$26.9M |
| Q1 2025 | -$82.9M | -$61.1M |
| Q4 2024 | -$23.9M | +$28.7M |
RKLB has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$326M over the past year, against −$232M the year before.
NSC Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.1% | +200K shares |
| 1 year | +0.2% | +500K shares |
| 3 years | -0.8% | -1.8M shares |
| 5 years | -8.6% | -21.2M shares |
| Available history | -15% | -40.4M shares |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | — |
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | $5M |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | $78M |
| Q2 2025 | $208M |
| Q1 2025 | $248M |
| Q4 2024 | — |
NSC has spent almost nothing on buybacks in the past year.
RKLB Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +3.6% | +22.6M shares |
| 1 year | +23% | +124M shares |
| 3 years | +35% | +168M shares |
| 5 years | +46% | +204M shares |
RKLB has 652M diluted shares, up 23% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
NSC Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.9x | Moderate |
NSC's net debt is about 2.7 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), about the same as a year ago.
RKLB Net Leverage
RKLB's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
NSC Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 54.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 52.4 | Neutral |
NSC's weekly RSI is 55 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 52 (neutral).
RKLB Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 46.8 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 27.6 | Neutral |
RKLB's weekly RSI is 47 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 28 (neutral).
NSC PE vs Industrials Sector
| Metric | NSC | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 28x | 24x | 16% above |
| PE % | 77 | 58 | 19 pts above |
NSC is trading at 28x earnings, a 16% premium to the Industrials sector's median of 24x.
RKLB PE vs Industrials Sector
RKLB has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
NSC Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $325.1 | 2.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $330.5 | 0.8% above |
| 50 week MA | $312.9 | 6.5% above |
| 100 week MA | $285.5 | 17% above |
| 200 week MA | $257.8 | 29% above |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
RKLB Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $61.4 | 4.3% above |
| 20 week MA | $68.1 | 5.9% below |
| 50 week MA | $77.6 | 17% below |
| 100 week MA | $56.5 | 13% above |
| 200 week MA | $31.4 | 104% above |
RKLB's trend is mixed: it's above three of its five weekly moving averages, and 104% above its 200-week average.
NSC Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $195.2 | $234.4 | +20% |
| 2021 | $234.4 | $287.5 | +23% |
| 2022 | $287.5 | $247.5 | -14% |
| 2023 | $247.5 | $236.4 | -4.5% |
| 2024 | $236.4 | $235.3 | -0.5% |
| 2025 | $235.3 | $291.0 | +24% |
| 2026 YTD | $291.0 | $333.2 | +15% |
NSC has the edge over RKLB on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
RKLB Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $9.82 | $10.3 | +4.9% |
| 2021 | $10.3 | $12.0 | +17% |
| 2022 | $12.0 | $3.77 | -69% |
| 2023 | $3.77 | $5.53 | +47% |
| 2024 | $5.53 | $27.2 | +392% |
| 2025 | $27.2 | $70.7 | +160% |
| 2026 YTD | $70.7 | $64.1 | -9.3% |
RKLB's yearly returns have swung widely, from +392% in 2024 to −69% in 2022. It's down 9.3% so far in 2026.